SGA A Arc 3 Daemons and Angels
by Garrowan
Summary: Two months later, Midway has been destroyed and travel is now a hassle once again. Michael has began his attacks on the humans of the Pegasus Galaxy, and the full cost of the trecherous alliance with the Lucain Alliance comes to fruition.
1. Chapter 1

The first Marine dashed back through the Gate, followed quickly by two more, then a stretcher party carrying a City security forces, then the rest of the fire team.

Last through was Macara.

"Major?" Sam asked as soon as the gate shut down.

"More of those freaks, ma'am. Took out a half dozen before they even knew back-up had come. The rest dropped your team and legged it," the major replied.

"Very good, major. Casualties?"

"Only one, your Security trooper who was injured. The rest are fine."

"Very well, go and debrief, major."

Macara nodded, and led his fire team to the UKGTF sector of the city.

Sheppard walked up to Sam as Macara and his men disappeared, going to the nearest transporter.

"Another attack?"

"Yes, these freaks Michael has created."

"Typical. Macara still leaving?" Sheppard asked, actually concerned about the Major.

"Yes. Not only has he resigned from his position in the UKGTF, he has applied for a transfer straight to the front in Helmand province." Sam said sadly.

"What the hell for?" Sheppard asked quietly.

Sam wasn't inclined to spurt Nathan's personal opinions around in public, but Sheppard needed to know.

"He is so sickened by the politics, as you know, that he wanted to get out. But he wants to be with the British soldiers dying in Afghanistan because they need the help more than the SGC, apparently." Sam replied.

"So it's not some heroic bullshit then, no suicidal urges either?" John asked.

"No, he just wants to be with his men, away from all the little petty arguments of the SGC."

"Damn. What a stubborn fool. More importantly, any news on Teyla yet?" Sheppard asked. He had been out seven times in the last five days, trying to garner news of where she had been taken.

Sam just shook her head. Sheppard hit the railing.

"Damn it! Someone has to know something!" he shouted, causing a few of the SG ops people to look over.

"We'll find her, John. Michael can't stay hidden forever, and we'll get her back." Sam tried to comfort him.

"But will we get her on time?" Sheppard bit back, a little too harshly. He shrugged apologetically.

"Unscheduled activation," chuck threw in from behind them. Security teams stood to, and the gate opened.

"We have major Lorne's IDC," chuck called out again. Sam just nodded, and Chuck let the shield open.

Lorne's team came through. They all seemed buoyed by something, their spirits lifted. The major ran up to the two colonels.

"What?" Sheppard asked expectantly.

"We have a Genii contact, says he knows where Teyla is," Lorne said happily.

"So we have to meet him there?" Sheppard asked.

"Sounds like a trap to me," Valenski said.

"Sounds too good to be true," Macara muttered.

"We have to try it." Sheppard replied.

Carter sighed and stood from the briefing table. "I agree. Colonel, take major Lorne and his team to M4S-587 please. Wait for this contact to arrive. Stay in contact with Atlantis."

"Yes, ma'am." Sheppard replied, he and Lorne standing and leaving the room to prep a team.

"Major Valenski, you can take your team out now, you don't need to hang around here,"

"With pleasure, colonel," the polish major replied, standing and also leaving.

Sam looked at Macara. "I want you to form a team, major. Go with Sheppard and set up a perimeter, just in case this is a Genii trick. I don't want more personnel captured."

Macara nodded. It was a sound idea.

"Fireteam or section?"

"Preferably the latter. Take some snipers with you."

"Yes, ma'am" Macara said standing.

"Dismissed."

The major left, taking his beret from his belt and fixing it in place.

* * *

"Okay, move yourselves!" Macara shouted. He had picked his five most experienced Marines, men who had been part of the SFSG before joining the GTF. They all had their **L85A5's, L104's** and Minimi's slung across their backs, but each also carried a **G-36 CM**, the commando version. This new version, designed for the UK SF, had a silence, shorter body length, retraceable butt rather than foldable, and was matt black.

"Why are we taking these, sir?" one man hefted his G-36CM.

"Just in case we need some quiet, corporal Davis. That okay with you?"

Davis nodded shamefaced. "Yes, sir."

The other two men in the section had different weapons. One carried the **G37-DMR**, a marksman's weapon based on the G36 family, and the other was Marine Beckett with his L115A3 sniper rifle.

"Good, we're ready. Bush hats with your DPM, gentlemen. Beret's in your webbing." Macara said. The marines complied, removing their vaunted berets and replacing with the DPM bush hat, designed to break up the shape of a human head.

"Let's go," Macara said, leading his men to the gate room.

Sam watched the eight marines file in, armed to the teeth.

"Expecting a War, major?"

"No, ma'am. Just wanted to test out the new toys in the field. Thought silence might be a good aid."

Sam smiled. "Okay. Colonel Sheppard and his team are already there. Good luck, maj…"

"Incoming wormhole!" Chuck called. "It's major Valenski. We have a transmission."

Sam rushed into the ops room.

"Put it on," she said.

"_Do not, I say again, do not lower the Iris. Ve are under attack and are heavily outnumbered. Vent looking for da DHD, as there was none near da Gate. Ve found it two clicks away, in some ruins with Wraith technology around it. As we prepared to pull out, Michael's troops arrived from some unseen quarter and began to attack. Need support, now_!" the transmisison blurted quickly. Gunfire could be heard over the comm, too. Someone screamed behind the Major.

"Hold on major, we'll send what we can!" Carter shouted back.

"_Hurry….!" _Was the last thing said before the gate closed.

Sam dashed to the gate room.

"Change of plan, major! Head to J3X-222 and relieve major Valeski. Chuck, dial it up!" Sam called out.

Macara thought hard. He hadn't brought any grenades, and it was a twenty minute round trip to any of the armouries. The city only had two jumpers in the bay at the moment, one of which was being repaired. His team could easily be running through a defended gate…..

But it was his friend Sussana! He couldn't just leave her under attack!

The gate activated.

"In for a penny, in for a pound," he breathed. "Safeties off, lateral dispersal once we're through. Do NOT head straight on as you go through!" he shouted, leading the way. With eight small sucking sounds, the Marines disappeared, and Sam called for one of the other officers to get a Jumper team back and ready to help out.

* * *

Michael's soldiers were everywhere. Valenski's team were pinned down, and the major couldn't do anything about it. She was one man down, possibly dead and out of reach.  
Between the three of them, they had two P-90's and a Minimi. It was only the machinegun that was stopping them being overrun.  
Valenski had been counting muzzle flashes, and even a conservative approximation, figuring in fire-and-maneuver, they were outnumbered ten to one, even after the casualties they had already caused.  
Valenski had ordered no one to fire unless they had a clear shot. They were in a clearing, so there was no way the Hybrids would get to rush them without coming into somebody's arc of fire.  
The worst part was the weapons the Hybrids were using; a large mix of Genii, Earth and Wraith weapons, making them more dangerous than fighting a normal Wraith party at long range.  
"Major! They're coming out of the trees!" sergeant Merrick called from his position at Valenski's 7 o'clock in the circle of ruins. He fired a quick burst from his P-90, which was followed by a pained grunt.  
"Stephenson, hold here!" Valenski shouted, dashing to Merrick's position. She fired two short bursts of her own, dropping two Hybrids with her accuracy. Merrick shot another, making for four corpses on the ground. The rest fell back into the cover of the trees.  
Stephenson was firing again, and ricochet's were bouncing around the rubble. One took Valenski in her muscled left thigh. She spat out a string of Polish curses.  
There was a noise, then, like a cheer or a roar. The bushes came alive with movement.  
"Ma'am, I think they're going to rush us!" Merrick cried.  
"They vouldn't...we'd slaughter them…." Valenski said out loud, before realising these were Hybrids, controlled by Michael's mind. They would do whatever he wanted.  
"Ve are in trouble…." Valenski stated. *Back to back at the DHD!" she shouted as the weapon fire intensified.

* * *

Macara and his unit were running as vast as they could. They had covered the two clicks in about ten minutes, even with kit. The gunfire was getting closer now, through the thick trees.  
Macara could see ruins, with figures dashing towards them. They were wearing dark apparel, and carried an array of weapons. There was at least thirty of them that he could make out, maybe more.  
Macara held up his hand. "Okay, 36-CMs, take the closest one's first so. They won't know where they're being hit from. As soon as your mags are empty, sling and use your regular longs. Understand?" he hissed to the five 36-Cm armed Marines. He received five nods. "Good. Bennett, Mallard, set up your weapons and pop them off best as you can. Cover us," Macara said to his marksmen. Two more nods.  
The major moved off with his five riflemen, moving quickly and quietly. The two marksmen broke off and went to find good positions.  
The fireteams made it to the tree line and made ready.  
"Are you ready?" Macara radioed Bennett. He received a double click on the radio.  
"Okay, pick targets and open up." Macara radioed. No sooner had he spoken, than two Hybrids were down, shot through the back of the head and neck respectively. Macara made a note to chastise the snipers for not going for the centre mass. They were showing off again.  
"Move." The major said simply, and his Marines moved slowly out of cover, aiming through their sights the whole time.  
Their 36-CMs spat silent death at the running Hybrids. Five were down before any of them noticed something was wrong. Two turned to see what was happening, and were dropped by the unseen marksmen. Those two were racking up the kills, Bennett obviously trying to keep his reputation, Mallard loving the new DMR and trying to show that the marksmen group were just as useful as the Sniper cadre.  
The six Commandos moved up, firing steadily. By now, more than a dozen Hybrids had altered their attack to engage the new hostiles. Macara's men were also at the peripheral of the ruined structure, and were able to start taking cover now.  
Jones was the first to switch back to his L85. He let his empty 36 swing on its sling, and pulled the A5 round, opening fire. McCluskey was next, drawing his L104 and opening up with long, controlled bursts.  
A marine went down on Macara's left. Fulton, he thought, but had no time to stop and check. He pressed on towards the centre of the ruins.  
"Form a corridor here! Keep the path back open!" Macara called. His men shouted assent and took station, holding back any enfilading attackers.  
The major broke into the area with the Wraith tech and DHD.  
Valenski was lying injured, firing her P-90. Merrick, the sergeant, was dead; a lucky shot through his left eye. Stephenson was firing the Minimi at the wave of attackers.  
Macara saw the DHD, and realised there was no way he would get the injured and dead team members away and through the gate if they had to open it form here.  
"Jones, bring the men into the ring of rubble. Set your positions and we defend until relieved! Bennett, Mallard, fire and maneuver, do not let yourselves be flanked or discovered." The major comm'd quietly.  
He moved across the ring and tapped Stephenson. "Hold here, private. I'm on your 9. Don't fire there, I've got the angle,"  
The man nodded and continued his fusillade.  
The other four Marines dashed in, Wray carrying Fulton over his shoulders. He placed the man down gently, before taking his weapons and ammo, and passing them around.  
"Vish I could say it was good to see you," Valenski muttered. Macara just grinned.  
"Can you get on the line?"  
Valenski crouched, despite the pain in her leg, and limped over, stooped, to the tallest circle of rubble.  
"I'll assume that was a yes, then?" the Major grinned again.  
The marines checked their ammo, and went to work.  
Jones, McCluskey, corporal Wray, sergeant Gander and Macara strengthened the line enough with Valenski and Stephenson that the hybrids fell back, giving them some respite.  
The medic, corporal Wray, saw to Valeski's leg.  
Fulton was dead, two enemy rounds causing large damage to his left lung and the tangle of arteries around his heart. His loss angered the whole group of Marines. He had been a funny, witty Marine and had always kept his unit's spirits up.  
"There is far more of them than I reckoned," Valenski said to Macara. "I made around thirty contacts,"  
Macara nodded. "So did I, Susanna. There must have been more around here. Maybe an outpost of some sort? Regardless, these are more forces than Michael has ever committed to battle. Whatever is going on here must be of some great importance,"  
"Teyla?" Valenski asked.  
"It's the only thing I can think of. But there isn't much we can do right now. We wait for the Jumper to pick us up, then we leave. Quickly."  
Valenski just nodded. By now, the adrenaline was wearing off, her wound throbbing terribly.  
There was a few sudden bursts of Genii weapons, and Bennett, followed by Mallard, dove into the cover.  
"Sorry, sir. They were all round our exit route, and we couldn't hold 'em" the Sniper replied.  
"It's okay. Set up your weapons and start taking out the ones in the trees. They think they're safe in there. Let them know otherwise."  
"Yes, sir."  
"Here they come again!" Gander shouted.  
"Stand to! Drive them back!" Macara shouted.

* * *

Ronon sat impatiently in the jumper. There was a fight, and he wasn't in it.  
The cloaked ship came round in a wide circle, the clearing coming into viewing quickly. There was a ring of old ruins, with a circle of dark-clad figures fighting towards it. There was now over twenty-five dark forms lying inert on the ground, too.  
The centre of the ruins was being well defended.  
"Come down right above them, and place a couple of drones right into the centre of that," Ronon pointed at a large group of Hybrids.

* * *

Macara swore. He was running out of ammo.  
So too, were the rest of his squad. The two minimis and the L104 were still going strong, but the rest of the Marines were low. Jones was injured, his left bicep torn by a P90 round fired from the treeline. It was an extremely lucky shot, to make a hit at that distance.  
Bennett fired again, then stopped to scratch a mark in his rifle-butt. Another kill.  
A sudden explosion rocked the Hybrids, killing almost a dozen, the rest falling back once more.  
Just in front of them, a jumper decloaked and the back opened.  
Ronon jumped out and fired a few shots at the running Hybrids.  
"Okay, get the dead and wounded inside!" Macara ordered. "We are outta here!"  
The marines grabbed Major Valenski, to much vocal protest, and carried her aboard. Fulton and Merrick went next.  
"Let's go, Dex!" Macara called. Ronon didn't move.  
"Ronon! I think Teyla is here, we need to go and get reinforcements!"  
Ronon snarled and Macara followed his point of few.  
From the trees about three kilometres distant, a Wraith cruiser rose and headed for the upper atmosphere.  
"Michael," Ronon growled.  
"Damn! He's bugging out. Dex, we need to get back and tell Sheppard he's wasting his time on that world, Michaels moved again," Macara said, himself stepping into the now crowded Jumper.  
Ronon spat, and followed the major.  
"Right, we need to get to Atlantis and let Sheppard know. We don't want him being the last man left waiting on M4S-587." Macara said. The pilot nodded, and his Marines sat down. Despite their victory, the realisation that Fulton was gone was hitting them.  
Valenski smiled grimly at him.  
"Thanks for coming to get me, major."  
Macara nodded. "Thank these lads. They did the hard work."  
Macara sat with his back against the jumper's hatch.  
"Don't worry, Ronon. We'll get her back" he patted the big man's shoulder.  
Well, at least, you guys will. Maybe I should tell the other I'm leaving, the major thought to himself as the jumper sped through the gate.

* * *

"Still no sign of colonel Sheppard?" Macara asked darkly.

"No," was all Sam could muster.

"It's been eleven days, McKay, and not one clue to where he may have gone?" Macara turned on the scientist.

"I still don't understand this!" McKay said. He noticed the looks on Sam and Macara's faces, before hastily gesturing to the whole science team. "_We_, don't know what happened. Lorne said that Sheppard dialed Atlantis from M4S-587 and stepped through. If so, where is he?"

Macara just shrugged. "This isn't my department doc, I just shoot people."

"Yeah, don't we all know it too? Always leave it up to the _scientists_ to sort out the soldiers' mess." He huffed, walking away to continue working somewhere that Macara wasn't.

* * *

The whole group was down in the McKay's lab; Zelenka, Rodney and the others. Macara was the 2IC at present, as Lorne being temporary senior military officer below Carter. Infighting had dropped precipitously, mainly trough Macara's efforts. That had surprised everybody, especially considering his attitude when he had come back from Earth. He had been full of anger and disrespect for the SGC.

Ronon was getting frustrated. He had spent the last eleven days searching various worlds that had a similar address to Atlantis, but to no avail.

And they still had not found Teyla.

"Colonel, the _Cuchulainn_ arrives tomorrow. I've done everything I can from this end, I'm going to go and pack my stuff." Macara muttered to Carter.

Sam sighed deeply. "Major, would you not consider staying, at least until we find Sheppard? I don't know how morale will cope with the senior officer going MIA, and the senior GTF leaving,"

Ronon's ear pricked at this.

"Was that a compliment colonel?" Macara only semi-joked.

"No, it was an observation. Since you came back from Hong Kong, you were acting like a total ass, pissing off everyone in SGC. But here in Atlantis, you've held the basic troopers together. It's almost as if you changed overnight, after handing in your resignation,"

Macara shrugged. "I love the city, the troopers here are amongst the best in world and the politics back home is not their fault. And your uncle wanted me to hold them together, and no matter what he thinks of me at the moment, I still respect him."

Sam managed a nod, and a small smile, before Ronon butted in.

"You're going?" he growled.

"Yes." Macara said simply.

"When everything's gone to Hell, you're bugging out? Teyla and Sheppard are missing, Michael's attacking humans all over the galaxy and you're going home?" Ronon growled, frowning. "I never took you for a coward."

Macara bridled, and stood up. Ronon straightened up, dwarfing even the major.

"Both of you calm down. The major has already told me of his discomfort working with the internal politics of the Gate Alliance, and is transferring to a combat zone on Earth." Sam interrupted.

"You knew about this?" Ronon bit out.

"I did, but I was hoping the major would stay, at least until we had resolved the situation."

Macara was now on the spot. Even McKay was listening to what his answer was going to be.

Macara realised it was true. His anger and frustration with the US/UK divide had grown less ever since he had returned to Pegasus. It was still evident in some of the orders received from home, the attitudes of some personnel from the nations involved, but here, they managed to avoid most of the petty bickering.

The major had wanted everything here to run well, and had helped achieve that over the last couple of months.

After a moment's pause he answered.

"I'll stay until we get Teyla back, but then I'm gone."

Carter nodded, and Ronon gave his usual grunt of acceptance.

Macara turned and started away. "I still have my Marines to sort out,"

"Very well. Dismiss…" she began to say, but Macara had already left.


	2. Chapter 2

13 hours later

Macara had wanted to catch the trip out on the _Lorcan_, but the ship left when he was away on a mission, the engines being repaired quicker than he anticipated. Even now, the powerful ship still sat in a holding pattern above Earth, the massive damage inflicted still not fully healed.

He had wanted to go through the gate more than once, but even with his resignation, he had had to wait until his tour was finished.

The delay in getting the next garrison through had slowed him down even more; he be damned if he left before his replacement arrived.

And now he had just agreed to wait even longer. More fool him.

_Cuchulainn_ was going to arrive soon, so he made sure his men were ready.

As he entered the Marine's mess, he could see stacked Bergens and equipment. F Company was getting ready to leave again.

As he walked amongst them, he listened to their conversations, shared in with some, listened to their stories.

"Some bastard better not write on my wall again,"

"When I get back to Brummy, I'm getting the biggest curry I can…."

"So, sir, you looking forward to our next Pegasus deployment?" a young Marine, this his first tour with F Coy, asked keenly. Macara didn't have the heart to say anything against the young man.

"Definitely. I can't wait to get back here,"

He spoke with the Company officers, and then looked for his Sergeant Major.

"So, you're not telling them?" Quincannon asked.

"No, they can find out later, when they get home. I would rather….."

"You've got to be kidding me!" an Australian voice cried out. Macara turned to see WO Warrick storming up to him.

"Keep your voice down, WO. I don't want my men to know…" he pre-empted the Aussie CDT.

"So it's true?"

"Yes, Wacca, it is."

"I've just gotten fully embedded with the GTF units, and now their senior field officer is leaving?" he said quietly. "That's bloody useless, mate,"

"Sir," Quincannon muttered. Wacca ignored him; he knew the time for respectful address and when not.

"Wacca, its fine. The man who should be replacing me is very capable. Anyway, I think you'll like him; he's a Gurkha."

Wacca frowned but calmed down none-the-less. He was just there, by Mac's orders, to try and mellow Macara out. Now his presence would be useless…..maybe he could convince the admiral to leave a permanent CDT presence….?

"Sorry, sir. But reconsider…please?"

Macara just nodded, as the tannoy erupted into noise.

"The _Cuchulainn_ has just arrived in orbit. Teams to the city stores, new supplies inbound. GTF, prepare to beam"

"Okay, boys! Grab your gear and your rifles, and stand ready!" Quincannon shouted. The marines, with a groan, hefted gear and prepared to leave.

Within a few moments, the first groups were being beamed out of the room.

Quincannon, under headdress, saluted. Macara returned the gesture. "See you soon, SM."

And then the Company was gone, to be replaced with the next command. Macara often wished to have a Company of his own again, instead of being the nomad of the GTF units.

The replacements appeared then. This time, a full Company of small men in Terai hats appeared.

A company, 1st Gurkha rifles were back.

With a new major.

"Gaje," Macara smiled as former Captain Rai saluted him. Macara returned the salute. "Congratulations on the promotion."

"Thanks, sir. Glad to be back. I heard that you're…"

"Not a word, Gaje. Not one damn word." Macara smiled in warning. Gaje Rai just smiled his ready smile, before giving his senior NCO some orders. These were bellowed at the men, and they fell out to go to their billets.

"It's a shame, sir. A real shame. When you get back, stay safe,"

"I will, Gaje, I will."

As they broke up, a group of thirteen men walked over. They were wearing a mix of headgear, two of them in tan berets, three in lovat green and the others wearing 'emerald' grey. The men with tan had a winged dagger on their berets; it was obvious who they were. The three in Commando berets had different cap badges; two had a Marine cap badge, the third had a naval Anchor and crown, meaning he was a Naval petty officer. SBS.

The others were from a much more secretive group than either the loud and publicly known SAS, or even the quiet and restrained SBS. These men all had different arm badges too; there were Riflemen, RAF, Engineers and even an Irish Guardsman. But they all had the same cap badge; Corinthian helmet over a commando dagger. They were the SRR, Special Reconnaissance Regiment.

"Oh, bloody hell," Macara sighed. "What the hell are you doing here?"

The senior man, a WO level 1, approached. He was wearing a tan beret.

"Sergeant major Dempsey, sir. We're here to help with missions against the Hybrids, and to help find the two missing team members," he gestured at the SRR.

Macara rubbed his head. "Are you telling me general Melchett has agreed on their presence?"

The sergeant major handed his orders. "No, sir. General McAllister is in command once again, albeit it temporarily. He sent us."

Macara couldn't help but grin. The arrival of operators from not _one_, but _all three _of the UK's SFs would surely piss the Yanks off no end.

"Make yourselves at home, boys, we have a mission for you already," the major said. His comm. Buzzed before anyone could say a word

"Major Macara, you may wish to get up, we have had an unexpected arrival through the gate." Sam's voice said.

"Who is it?"

"Colonel Sheppard. And he says he knows where Teyla is"

Macara looked at Rai and Wacca, then at the SFs. "You, with me, now," and he dashed for the gateroom.

**

* * *

**

**Light years away from the Pegasus galaxy, MacGregor had just personally overseen the launching of the _Victory_, the Nagoya shipyards literally crawling with SGC personnel and Japanese Marines. At the present she was under Cam Mitchell's command until a more permanent captain could be found, and SG1 were using her as a home base, rather than Cheyenne Mountain. Lt. Colonel Paul Davis still recovering from his wounds, but assigned light duties, would be the _Victory's_ XO until his own ship was fully repaired, which might take months.**

With Davis holding the ship, in orbit over a known Lucian base world, SG1 and three teams of Marines and mixed SF's had beamed down and were searching a cave complex twenty klicks north west of where the gate had been. The _Victory_ now holding that avenue of escape in her cargo hold.  
MacGregor was leading the venture but was uneasy having his daughter Cate with him. He shook off the feeling and proceeded onward, SG18 being his own team for the moment. The other teams were spread out throughout the caves and a double click on his comms brought him to a halt, his marines stopping with him.  
"MacGregor, make it brief."  
"Ah sir, we've found something interesting here, south by east of you about fifteen hundred metres, four levels down." Came Mitchells reply.  
"Right all teams, you heard the man, rendezvous on SG1's position." The other two teams acknowledged and half an hour later, everyone was assembled in a crowded cavern abut a kilometre below the surface, torchlight being their only means of seeing.  
"What have you found Mitchell?"  
"Teal'c and Cate did actually sir, have a look."  
Cam shone his torch up on a rocky ledge above them about five metres or so, Teal'c and Cate were standing next to what appeared to be a heavy metal door, there was a narrow almost unseen path leading up to them, MacGregor and the remainder of SG1 climbed the path to meet them.  
"Intriguing" Was all Mac said.  
"I have seen similar on some of the old Goa'uld worlds." Daniel said.  
"Yes, so have I." Added Vala  
"Indeed as have I Admiral MacGregor." Teal'c said stoically.  
"Well, can we get it open or not?"  
"C4!" Was all Cam could add.  
"I believe Colonel Mitchell may be right." Teal'c replied.

* * *

Macara sprinted up to the Gateroom. There, he found a disheveled looking Sheppard, tired, exhausted and angry.

"What happened?" Macara asked. Sheppard lost no time in launching into his tale.

After a few moments, no one spoke.

"Well? Are we going to get Teyla or not?"

"Security, take him to the infirmary and have every test Doc Keller can think of run on him." Sam said quickly.

"What, are you kidding?" Sheppard moved forward, arms open.

Instantly, Macara and the UKSF's had their side arms raised, as did the two City Security with Carter.

"Oh, guys, come on!" Sheppard tried.

"Take him away," she said sharply.

"Let's go," Macara said, gesturing that the Security team should take him.

"Rodney?" Sam spoke up.

"Yes, Sam?" he said meekly, looking at Macara's still drawn Browning.

"Get to work and see if what John says about the solar flare is true,"

"Well, as we both know, solar flares can affect wormholes in ..."

Carter turned on McKay, making him jump. "_Yes_, McKay, I know what they do. I want to know if one happened this _time_."

"Oh, right. Of course. Well, it'll take a while." McKay replied.

Macara and Carter looked at him for a few more seconds.

"Oh, right," Rodney said, scurrying to a computer.

"Dempsey, get your section bedded down then report to my office at 1400," Macara ordered the SAS sergeant major.

"Sah!" Dempsey said, saluting briskly before marching away.

"Who were they?" Sam asked.

"Some of the British contingent who arrived. I was debriefing them."

Sam cocked an eyebrow at the departing WO. "Was he..."

"Was he what?" Macara said innocently.

"A...you know...in the Ess Aey E...never mind," Carter sighed.

* * *

"Just like my Grandma said. If at first you don't succeed..."

"Blow it open with C4?" MacGregor said sceptically from behind his rock.

"Eh, yeah, actually!" Mitchell grinned. "Fire in the hole!"

A moment later there was an explosion. Dust choked the cavern for a moment, before the SG teams moved back in.

The teams walked through the door. There was bare, smaller cavern.

Bare, but for one thing.

Inset in one wall was a stasis device, but larger and slimmer than any they had ever seen.

"There's Ancient on it," Daniel said, wandering over and reading what it said.

Inside was a being quite unlike anything even Teal'c had ever seen. It was tall, pale and thin, with jet black hair. They could just make out the tiny points of fangs coming from its top jaw."

"Is that some old vampire?" Mitchell said in his normal way.

"Are those...wings?" Vala asked.

MacGregor scoffed. "No. It's not a vampire, do not be silly."

"No, more like...angel wings..." Vala said, curiously.

"We need to leave! Now!" Daniel hissed.

"Daniel, what is it?" MacGregor asked.

Before Daniel could say anything, the noise the energy field was generating stopped. Everyone lifted their weapons and looked fearfully at the lithe figure.

"We have to go! Now!" Daniel yelled.

"What is it?"

"Nephilim!" he bellowed in reply.

"What...?" Cameron started.

"Shit. Even I have heard of them. Run. Now" MacGregor said. No one questioned him.

The teams scrambled to leave, diving through the caverns.

And in the small room, a pair of jet-black eyes opened, staring out on the galaxy for the first times in countless millennia.

* * *

Macara's blocking force of Gurkhas steeped through the gate, cheerful and pleased with their success. An SRR fireteam followed, with the two SAS soldiers, and Macara.

"It went well, then?" Sam asked.

"You bet. They came to the village with stunners, about thirty of them. The SRR boys stalked them from the gate to the Village, where we had already deployed and mowed them down. Two survived and we were going to bring them in for interrogation. Sergeant Matheson from the SRR contingent was bringing them along and he said they seemed to be chewing on something. A few moments later they were convulsing, and then that was them," the major replied gravely. "Has Sheppard had any luck yet?"

"Not heard back yet, major. But he's sure he will find her there. It shouldn't be long now."

Macara nodded, then gestured for his men to head back for debriefing before climbing the stairs to the ops room.

"Who did he take?"

"Ronon, Lorne, McKay and a few others. Lieutenant Edison's team." Sam said.

"Okay. Would you like me to head out, too?"

"No, major. Three senior officers in the one area? Not a good idea." Sam said. Macara just chuckled, knowing full well the number of times Col's Mitchell and Carter had been on life-or-death missions at the same time.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Gate activation. It's Lieutenant Edison," Chuck called out.

As the Gate opened, a dusty, weary Edison staggered through.

"The…building. It was booby trapped…" he said.

"What happened?" Sam asked again, trying to get the full details.

"The building came down after McKay and Major Lorne were searching through one of Michael's computers. I don't know if any of them are still alive, or if…"

"It's okay, lieutenant. At least we know, and can do something about it."

"Sergeant major Dempsey, Captain Apiata, get to the jumper bay! Make sure you have your entrenching tools! Chuck, round up the Combat Engineers we have here, get them up to the jumper bay too! Move it people!" Macara shouted, causing everyone to jump.

"I'm coming along too, major." Sam said. It wasn't a request, either. "The _Daedalus_ is already en route to check up on Sheppard anyway. Captain Vega, your with me!" Sam said to one of the new officers.

Macara didn't like her much, yet. She was an attractive woman, probably used to being ineffectively hit on and seemed to have a cold, confident air about her. Macara had tried to be friendly, but was rebuffed.

He smiled grimly; actually, that was pretty much the same attitude he carried to _everyone_ he didn't know.

The major nodded to her, and ran off to join his men.

* * *

"We need to beam off world and bombard that cavern," Daniel said through gasped breaths"

"When you said…Nephilim…you meant, fallen angels?" MacGregor asked.

"Yes."

"But they are a Hebrew myth…" the admiral stopped himself, remembering where most of Earth's religions had come from.

"Those things are vicious and dangerous. I also thought they were something the Goa'uld used to terrify their subjects even more, saying how they protected them from the Nephilim. It seems the Goa'uld knew of their locations…" Daniel trailed off.

"And the Alliance have got access to lots of Goa'uld hardware," Mitchell said. "Great. How much of a threat are these things?"

"From the tales I've read, the Goa'uld would destroy the whole surface of a planet they thought one of these slept on." Daniel said.

Macgregor was worried now. "Those stupid idiots. They wanted to strike back at Earth, and they've unleashed Hell on the galaxy. Daniel, how many are there?"

"I have no idea, but they are immensely powerful, probably along the lines of Adria was. They are pure evil, and live to feast on the souls of those they kill."

"_Victory_, beam out, now," MacGregor comm'd. There was no way he was letting this happen.

"Cam, prepare to beam a Nuke into the mouth of that cavern, " MacGregor said as he took his seat on the bridge.

"Yes, sir." Mitchell replied, silently cursing the fact this was his second career nuke.

"Sir, we have six contacts off the port-bow, coming out of hyperspace!" the tactical lieutenant called out over the noise on the bridge.

"Who is it?" MacGregor asked.

"Ha'taks, sir, two of them, with four Al'kesh in support,"

MacGregor spat a curse. "What's their heading?"

"Straight towards us, sir. The Al'kesh, however, are heading for the planet. Straight to the co-ordinates you gave the colonel for the nuke."

"Bring us about. All batteries, target the Motherships. Launch 401's to try and take out those Al'kesh!" MacGregor rapped out the orders

There was a series of affirmatives. Alarms blared action stations, and the _Victory_ turned to fight.

* * *

"Down!" Vega called as the darts approached. They were coming to try and capture as many rescuers as they could.

"Get to the jumpers!" Sam called.

The medics they brought with them helped Lorne and McKay, newly rescued, to the first Jumper. The combat engineers tried to dig down some more as quickly as they could, but they were finding it hard to get anywhere in time.

"Open fire!" Macara bellowed at the soldiers around him who had their weapons to hand.

Captain Vega was quickest, bringing her M4 to bear on the closest Dart. She fired a quick burst, followed by a longer stream. She was rewarded by the smoke that trailed from the Dart as it veered treacherously.

"Great shooting!" Keller spoke out as they moved towards the jumper.

Macara fired his L85 A5, not making much impact on the other Darts, who were jinking like crazy now. He smiled slightly at his less than impressive display.

"Okay, back to the Jumper! Punjai, Barati, fire your Minim's at that bastard until he decides he wants to die." Macara ordered, ushering the other Gurkha's towards the Jumper.

The SRR group moved back too, only one remaining.

Sergeant Matheson stood with a Javelin.

"Sergeant, you won't hit one of those things with that!" Macara said as he pushed the troops to the two jumpers.

"We'll see, sir," he muttered.

One Dart exploded violently as Punjai and Barati unloaded a stream of fire at it.

Another was coming straight for Matheson.

"Sergeant!" Macara urged from the back of the Jumper.

The Gurkha gunners were sprinting back, but the Dart was going to catch them before they got to safety. Matheson breathed, flicked the direct fire mode button and fired at the Dart.

The Javelin missile barely needed its guidance lock-on. The missile hit it square in the nose, blowing it apart in a great fireball.

The SRR and the two Gurkhas jumped aboard. Macara shook his head in wonder. Matheson grinned broadly.

"Major, head for the gate. The _Daedalus_ can beam them out, but we can't stay here." Sam ordered.

"Affirmative, colonel," Macara replied, and signalled Dempsey to take off.

"Wait!" he shouted, his hand hovering on the rear hatch control. He jumped out the back, followed by a string of curses form the SAS soldier.

Macara clawed at some rubble, pulling bits aside.

He struggled over something, pulling out an object larger than he originally thought. It looked like the Wraith version of a hard drive tower. How had it survived the collapse?

And Macara wondered to himself how he had spotted one corner of it amongst the debris.

Climbing aboard, he signaled Dempsey to move out.

The two Jumpers sped for the gate, for it to open a second later. It was not their address.

The jumpers broke from their approach, and cloaked from the approaching Darts.

* * *

"The first Ha'tak is down and losing oxygen, admiral," Mitchell reported.

MacGregor grimaced. "Good, all weapons target the first one. How are our fighters faring against the Death Gliders?"

"One lost for fifteen enemy, sir," a lieutenant-commander reported quickly.

"And the Al'kesh?"

"Our 401's destroyed four of them, but two made it to the ground,"

"Bring the Tornadoes home." MacGregor ordered. "Cameron, send the nuke!"

"Yes, sir!" Mitchell replied.

In space, the second mothership turned and fled, after the destruction one little Tau'ri ship had caused. All that was left behind were debris fields and shattered hulls.

From here, a bright flash could be made out on the planets surface, with a huge mushroom cloud, even at this distance as the Mk8 vaporised the Cavern, and the 3km around it.

"Scans, tactical?"

"Nothing, sir. No life within ten miles of the explosion,"

MacGregor nodded. "Scan for vessels."

A few seconds later, he got a satisfactory reply.

"Nothing, sir."

"Good. Helm, plot a course for Earth, we need to report what the Alliance has been up to and have alerts made to all off-world bases."

"Aye, sir."

Teal'c spoke softly to Daniel.

"I have never seen one of those things, but I vaguely remember hearing of them as a child. I did not believe they existed."

Daniel looked up at his friend. "We all need to do some more research into them. There could be more, for all we know,"

Vala shivered. "I hope not. It didn't look at all friendly," she said, biting her lower lip.

The _Victory_ turned and jumped into hyperspace. It was only a few more minutes before the lone surviving Al'kesh, the other destroyed not by the humans, nor their nuke, zipped away from the world and also made a hyperspace window, the pilot taking it to an exact destination.


	3. Chapter 3

"_Major, I order you to hold until Daedalus arrives." _Sam's voice boomed through the comms.

"But ma'am, the cruiser is sitting right there," Macara gestured ineffectively at the ship he was looking at through the viewport. "I have an SRR team, two SAS operators and fourteen angry Gurkhas here. We could be in, get Teyla, and back out with minimum effort," Macara replied.

"Major, I applaud your courage, but what would it achieve? What would you do after you had Teyla? Cloak and float about hoping for rescue? Michaels would do everything he could to find us. And, no doubt, Michael would bombard the area we were searching where Colonel Sheppard is trapped. No, we wait for the _Daedalus_. Is that understood?" Carter replied quite astutely.

"Yes, ma'am." Macara replied, sitting down. He looked at the Wraith device he had found, wondering what sort of information it contained.

Major Rai sat in the Op with his Gurkha marksman and one of the SBS members. The other four SRR were in two lying up positions, the SBS in a third. Rai's Gurkha section were providing a blocking force.

They were on a world watching a Wraith outpost that was coming under attack from Hybrids.

"Any word yet, sergeant?" Rai asked the SBS, a Welshman in his late twenties.

"Not yet, sir. All we know is that Michael's hybrids moved into that Wraith building and slaughtered the Wraith drones protecting it."

Rai nodded. "Thought so," he whispered. "Have we had any signs of Michael's cruiser?"

"No, sir," one of the Gurkhas replied. "Our cloaked Jumper in orbit has detected nothing,"

Rai thought things over. There was a very good chance that Michael wasn't going to turn up here any time soon. And he wanted to know what was going on in the Wraith outpost.

"Okay, Sergeant Jenkins, have your SBS operators and SRR team ready to move on my signal."

Jenkins nodded, and moved silently form the OP.

"Sergeant, go to the men who are watching the gate, move forward and secure it completely. Hold it in case we need to make a quick escape. Also, recall the Jumper and have it wait for us above the base,"

"Sir," the Gurkha replied, grabbing the radio.

Rai grabbed his rifle and went to alert his men.

* * *

"_Daedalus is here!_" Sam radioed.

"I see her," Macara replied quickly. A moment later, before he could say anything more the _Daedalus_ opened fire and disabled the engines of Michael's cruiser waiting in orbit.

"_Daedalus_ to Colonel Carter, come in,"

Macara went to answer, when Carter replied herself.

"_Carter here_,"

"_Colonel, if you'd like to come aboard, we can get out of here_," Caldwell's voice replied.

"_We need you to beam Ronon and colonel Sheppard out, they were buried too far in the rubble_."

"_We could sustain heavy damage if we drop the shields_," Caldwell replied.

Macara listened as Carter asked again, ready to jump into the conversation if he had to.

"_Sheppard and Ronon could be killed. Please, colonel_."

There was a pause, then Caldwell replied. "_Okay. Come aboard, then we will beam them out_."

"You heard the man, sergeant," Macara spoke to Dempsey, and watched the shape of the _Daedalus_ draw nearer.

* * *

Carter nodded to Macara as they walked to the bridge. The ship rocked suddenly under the impacts.

The pair entered the bridge just as Caldwell ordered the shields up again.

"Well, that's that. We've lost engines and weapons. We're stuck" he said. "But we do have Ronon and Sheppard."

Macara sighed, and Carter spoke up. "Will it take long to get power back?"

"No, but we don't know if Michael will finish repairs first," Caldwell said honestly.

"Right, we speak to Sheppard then we figure out how to get aboard and rescue Teyla," Macara said bluntly.

For once, no one argued.

* * *

The SRR team moved forward, G36 CM's ready, any Hybrid who appeared gunned down with lethal rapidity. Rai's Gurkhas had secured the exit to the outpost and the Special Forces had moved in. Rai had insisted he went with them, to which Jenkins had only just accented.

They moved through the base, encountering numerous dead Wraith, a few dead Hybrids. And several living Hybrids too.

The SRR moved with skill and silence, the youngest of the UK SF units proving their skills along with the best of them.

The group entered a room that seemed to be some sort of shrine. There were more of those ubiquitous Wraith computer terminals, but there seemed to be an altar at the far end of the room.

"What is this?" Rai whispered.

"A Wraith church?" Jenkins asked quietly.

Rai shook his head. "As far as we know, they have no religion…however…" he trailed off. "We don't know much about them. Look, the Hybrids seem to have taken some of the terminals. Grab that one, sergeant, we'll see what we can take from it," Rai said, pointing at a partially removed organic computer.

On one wall of the shrine, there was a picture drawn. It was what someone from Earth would call expressionist art, but for all Rai knew that was what the Wraith did as normal.

The picture depicted a tall, lithe being, with feathery wings, a large group of Wraith officers around it, all kneeling on one leg. It seemed to have their whole attention.

Rai was disturbed by this. What manner of being would have the Wraith in a state of servitude, even worship?

Having grabbed the terminal, he decided discretion was now the better part of valour. "Right, let's move to the exit and get in the jumper. We're leaving," he said, receiving only nods of affirmation from the SFs.

* * *

Sheppard and Ronon entered the 'maternity' room, dropping the Hybrid guard. McKay followed close behind.

"John?" Teyla asked in joyous surprise.

"Come on, Teyla, time to go," Sheppard said.

"John…I...can't…" she struggled to speak.

"What?" Sheppard asked, suddenly releasing. "Oh no…"

"I have been having…contractions…..for an hour now. He is coming,"

"Teyla, Michael has almost gotten the hyperdrive back online! Can you make it to the _Daedalus_?"

The look on her face showed Sheppard what she thought of that idea.

"Okay. Ronon, let's go," Sheppard said, grabbing some C4 from his pouches. "Major, have you managed to get through to the hyperdrive yet?" the colonel radioed.

"_Pretty much cleared the way. Why?_" Macara's voice came through the comm.

"Hold us a safe corridor. We're coming to disable the engines," Sheppard replied.

"_Oh, good. Just wondering if we had a plan for that_." Macara said sarcastically.

* * *

"Hold the way! Colonel Sheppard's coming. Think you can manage?" Macara barked at the men with him.

The Gurkhas and SRR who hadn't been left on _Daedalus_ were holding off the Hybrids quite safely, so they chuckled at the comment.

Rifles cracked as numerous groups of Hybrids tried to make their way forward.

A Gurkha on Macara's left went down, shot from the flank by a Hybrid who had sneaked round. The hybrid leapt forward to finish him off, when one of the other Riflemen whipped his Kukri out with blinding speed and sliced up across the attacker's chest. The Hybrid gave a gurgling curse, and collapsed.

"Medic!" Macara called over his shoulder.

A large shape came bounding along, red energy blobs screaming past. Ronon.

Sheppard followed, less sure on his feet.

"Go and cover Teyla and secure the way to the Dart bay, major," Sheppard said.

"Yes, sir. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Move out, major."

Macara nodded, but shouted to Dempsey.

"Sir, take my SAS troopers with you, they can cover the way for you and Ronon,"

Sheppard went to protest, but just nodded.

"Good luck to us," Macara said.

* * *

"So, ummmmm, how are you doing?" McKay said, worriedly.  
"The pain is….. very great." Teyla replied  
"Oh...yeah I-I had a kidney stone once...incredibly painful...same kinda thing I'm told so yeah I hear you. Actually my cat and I had one at the same time and we were not fun to be around I'll tell you that much. He got his because he was eating too much dry cat food and I got mine because I wasn't drinking enough liquids, so that's why you see me drinking lots of water because I have no desire to experience that kind of pain again….." McKay ranted  
Teyla glared at him, breathing heavily the whole time. "Fascinating story. Thank you..."

* * *

Macara launched himself into the maternity room, to see McKay passing Teyla her son.

"Evening, ma'am. Congratulations," Macara smiled. Teyla managed a smile back. "We have your Taxi waiting, so let's move out,"

"Thank you, Nathan, for coming to get us…"

"Never mind, you can thank me later," Macara said, helping her up and starting them forward.

On the way to the dart bay, Ronon and Sheppard met them. The group made their way as quickly as they could, ready to escape in the Jumper…

Which wasn't there anymore.

"What? How the hell…" Sheppard started.

"What are we going to do?" Dempsey asked.

Sheppard looked at one of the Darts.

"Oh, no. Colonel, please. I really don't want to get beamed into one of those…." Macara said, trailing off. "Oh, fine. But hurry up."

* * *

On _Daedalus_, Caldwell received a message his weapons were ready again.

"Target the ship, prepare to fire when we hear from Colonel…."

"Sir, comm. From a Dart that has just left the Cruiser,"

"Put it on…."Caldwell order, sitting up sharply.

"_Colonel, this is Sheppard. We have all got off the cruiser. Do what you want with it now_,"

"Very well, Sheppard. Out." Caldwell looked at Marks. "Major Marks, please make that ship go away."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

Teyla stood next to Sheppard's bed as he was prepared for surgery. She had a look of concern on her face, despite her happiness at her new child. Macara stood there too, cradling the baby and crooning it.

"He's got a motherly soul," Sheppard joked.

"I heard that, colonel, and I am fully able to kill you right now, and there wouldn't be much you could do about it…is there…is there.." Macara said in baby-talk as he held Torren.

"What are you gonna name the kid?" Sheppard croaked.  
"Well, if it's all right with you, I was thinking of Torren John, after my father and after you." Teyla smiled

"Really? Wow."  
"McKay's gonna hate that." Keller chimed in as she busied round the colonel.  
"I would be very honoured." Sheppard said, happy at both occurrences.

"Especially being this one's namesake. He's a braw wee bairn," Macara said. Teyla looked over, confused.

"It's good. Don't worry." Sheppard said quietly. "They all talk funny." He said, referring to the Scots.

"I heard that too." Macara said.

"Right, out you go!" Keller said. "Get this mother and baby back to their own beds, and let me deal with the colonel,"

"Yes, ma'am," Macara muttered, talking Torren to his cot.

"Thank you John," Teyla said, kissing Sheppard on the forehead just as he was being wheeled away.

* * *

**One month later**

"Here's another one," Macara said, throwing the terminal down on the briefing room table and sitting down at his chair. He still had his combat gear on, his rifle slung at his side.

"Damn it. This is really not good," Carter said, staring at the images the terminal was cycling through.

"We found it when we were on PX5-229. Wraith Cruiser had crashed, the SRR team had a rummage and then Major Lorne and I both led teams to investigate."

Over the last four weeks, the Pegasus gate teams, knowing what to look for, had been finding more and more references to Nephilim, both from captured Wraith 'documents' and amongst the ruins of civilisations. In fact, the SGC and IOA had been so worried about the emergence of these biblical beings that they had sent Daniel to investigate more in Atlantis. Which was perfectly fine with him, and since his arrival two days ago he had done nothing but study the documents.

"Daniel, have you got anything more for us from your research?" Sam asked.

"Well, the Nephilim have appeared in several versions of the bible and non-canonical Jewish writings. However, there have always been severe disagreements over what these being were, be it children of the offspring of Cain and Seth to..."

"Doctor, I believe the etymology of these beings is now academic. From what the SGC and SG1 has told us, and what we have found here in Pegasus, it is fairly obvious that the 'Targum Yonasan' description is all we need be concerned about," Macara said quickly, but not impolitely.

Daniel looked at him, a little confused and impressed at the same time.

"You mean, you know about..."

"The children of Fallen, those angels who fought against God in the War in heavens. One version, the Yonasan, says that many of these Angels, jealous of humanity and coveting beautiful women, came to Earth and got their rocks off, creating the..."

"Nephilim. Powerful giants, often with wings, or the stunted beginnings of wings, who held great power over man. Major, I'm impressed." Daniel said honestly. "Did you research them after we discovered the Nephilim in the cavern?"

"No, it's just something I read about a while back. I found it quite interesting," Macara replied, noticing that every eye in the room was looking at him curiously, especially McKay, who had that smug 'yeah, right' look going. The major sighed before continuing, "Hey, soldiers read, okay. We're not all trigger happy, illiterate morons,"

"But you are saying some of you are?" McKay asked.

"No, I'm saying that...what I mean is..." Macara stuttered to a halt.

"Ah, yes, I thought so. It's cute when soldiers try to play it smart." McKay said grinning. "So, how long did it take you to memorise all that information?"

"I'm going to shoot you," Macara said simply, keeping a straight face.

"Oh, ha ha," McKay said waving his hands in the air. "I'm scared now. Can we get back to the briefing?"

"No, really. I am going to shoot you. And everyone is going to thank me for it," Macara said again, keeping his eyes on McKay as he placed his L85 A5 on the table. Sheppard smiled with amusement.

"Oh, ah...well, I was only joking, major, of course. I, eh..."

"Sorry, doctor Jackson. On you go," Macara smiled.

"Yes, well...um...as the major has said, in one myth they are powerful beings descended from Angels. And they are totally evil. Since finding the Nephilim on the Lucian world, we have been on the watch for any more of its kind. With Teal'c's help I found some Goa'uld histories on them, and researched our own data." Jackson said once McKay and Macara had fallen silent.

"So, do we know how many there are?" Sheppard asked, speaking for the first time in the meeting.

"Er, no, not really. We can guess at around eighteen, from what little information has been found, but that doesn't mean there aren't dozens more out there." Jackson replied.

"But what have the Wraith got to do with all of this?"

"To be honest...I'm not sure yet..." Daniel began.

Macara raised his hand. "We are,"

"Pardon?" Carter asked, surprised.

"One of the British researchers, a Nicola Howatt, and myself have been working through the Wraith files we found, which doctor McKay helpfully let us run through his translation program,"

"I did? Wait a minute, that was Wraith information you were running? Through a networked computer?" McKay said in a slight panic. "What were you thinking? Do you know how many viruses we could have..."

"Dinnae panic, laddie," Macara said patronizingly, putting on a thick Scottish 'bumpkin' accent. "We know whit we're daein, ken. We huv got leccy in'e highlands noo...we can figure it oot..."

Sam and Sheppard chuckled at this.

"What did you just say?" McKay asked, looking at SHeppard in confusion. "No, really, what?"

"We copy-pasted the writings into a non-networked laptop, then typed them out again in the networked system and used the translator. The original data never went anywhere near the expedition's systems."

"Oh. That's...okay then..." McKay said quietly, sulking a little.

"Doctor, I know you are probably the smartest man here. You always know something about what's going on, and you have saved the expedition more than a few times. But really, could you stop holding it over us? Please? Anyway, Doctor Jackson is the real expert on this stuff, so he may want to double check our findings," Macara nodded to Daniel. "But we found something scary."

* * *

The Al'kesh burst out of hyperspace, its engines trailing flames despite the vacuum, its flight poor.

The ship had appeared above a barren world, one of the closest in Pegasus to the Milky Way. The vessel lurched violently as it made for the world, and started to pulsate. A micro second before it exploded outward, the rings were activated to the planet below.

* * *

MacGregor paced up and down in Jack's office, he hated being on land again, even if he was in space, it was the same as being at sea, the freedom of it. Cate grabbed her father's sleeve and said.  
"Dad, relax, they'll be here in a moment."

Anne nodded in agreement. "Anyway Will, how much do you know about this CIA agent they're bringing in?"

She's a freind of Cate's and that's good enough for me, besides if you read her file, she is probably the foremost expert on these things and Jack stood for her abilities as well, he wants her and Cate in Atlantis asap."

The door swung open, Cam and Vala, closely followed by Teal'c entered, Vala told them. "She's here, in the control room."

With that, the MacGregor's filed out with SG1 behind, they went down the staircase and found Jack talking to a tall striking redhead, he turned and made the introductions.

"Ah, the MacGregors, Sydney you know Cate of course, Anne and Will I'd like you to meet agent Sydney Bristow, she will be going with Cate to Atlantis in about one hour."

After a warm greeting between new and old friends, Jack turned to the two young women. "Pack your gear ladies, you are going on a trip through that" He indicated the Stargate with his thumb, standing there silent in the gateroom.

* * *

Three lithe, grey skinned figures stood together, one slightly in front. They all had pale white robes adorning them, covering them only from the waist down. They had well toned, muscular torso's, despite their lean physique, on display for all to admire or fear. They had an almost human appearance, despite their great, folded wings.

They were Nephilim.

The two flanking Nephilim were clearly male, sharing many of the same features as their hated Lantean enemies. One had short, cropped black hair above jet black eyes, unbound malice and barely controlled hunger edged in his glance. His pale body was covered in scars that had gone to a darker shade of grey, leaving criss-cross patterns across his frame.

The second had long black hair, in tight, small pleats that ran down his back. His gaze was no less malevolent, but held a great deal more self control, more cunning. He was a head shorter than his comrade, and with no visible wounds of any kind.

The leader was female, and her gaze was the worst of all. There was not a shred of compassion to be found, but neither was there the cold psychosis or dark cunning of her retainers. Her eyes held nothing but pure spite and hatred.

The leader pointed to the Stargate lying only a few dozen metres away. The figures strode towards it, their hunger their only consideration.

* * *

"The Wraith, well, at least a great many of the factions, worshipped these things," Macara pointed to an image he brought up on his laptop. It was one of the wall-images of Wraith bowing before a creature that could only be one of the Nephilim.

"Oh, no," Daniel said, his voice going up slightly in pitch.

"Oh, yes," Macara replied grimly. "These being used to lead the armies of the Wraith to war. It seems it wasn't numbers alone that defeated the Ancients; the Wraith had some help."

"You mean, the Nephilim were like the Wraith's priors?" Sam asked. Macara shook his head.

"Only in the sense they have powers beyond what any man could have. The Wraith do not worship the Nephilim as God's, according to the data we recovered. It is more of a maternal bond, you could say."

"What are you getting at…?" Sheppard asked, tilting his head. Macara sighed before replying.

"Nicola and I couldn't tell for sure, that's why we want Doctor Jackson to double check, but we think the Nephilim introduced the Iratus bug to the worlds where they first fed on Ancient DNA…."

"Oh, no…" McKay said before Daniel could.

"Then what was the one we found doing in the Milky Way?" Daniel asked the most pertinent question.

Again, Macara shrugged slightly. "This is all still a lot of conjecture until you can confirm it, but it seems one, a leader amongst the others, Timrek, led some of her followers to the Milky way to hunt down the last Ancients who had fled Pegasus."

"Her?" Sam put in.

"They apparently have two genders, like us," Daniel said, reading some of the info from Macara's laptop.

"_Incoming wormhole!" _Chuck's voice came across Sam's comm. The officers stood and went to the balcony.

"Who is it?" Sam asked quickly as the security teams took their stations.

"Earth, ma'am."

"When did Earth get a ZPM?" Daniel asked, annoyed that he had to take the long journey aboard ship.

"I really have no idea…." Sam muttered.

The gate opened, and two figures walked through. Cate, with her new colleague, Sydney.

"Hi Sam!" She waved.

"Oh, no," Macara groaned


	4. Chapter 4

There was a knock on the door. Macara didn't bother to turn, simply muttering

"Yes?"

Cate walked into the room. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" She asked.

"Not really. I'm trying to pack the last of my gear before I head for Earth," Macara said off hand.

"So you are still going?"

"That's what I said I was going to do once we found Teyla. I've already stayed almost a month longer than I was meant to. Now, I'm leaving."

"You are a stubborn idiot. What are you going back to? Fighting against other humans, killing your own people?" she bit back.

"I'm going to be with my men, where I don't have to worry about the SGC or the GTF or the bloody IOA. Simple as that." Macara said, throwing the last couple of shirts into his kit bag.

"What about the Nephilim?" Cate asked, trying a new tact.

"There are plenty of geniuses and heroes here. My presence won't affect thing either way, except to stir up more animosity." Macara replied. "The fact they sent you, another Spook, shows that they haven't taken any of your father's words seriously.

"I'm not here to spy, Nathan, I'm here to help with the Nephilim…." Cate tried to reply.

"Well, that settles it then. One comes, one goes. Sounds pretty fair." The major stood, shouldering his kit bag.

Cate shook her head; she was not going to do any ego pandering, nor waste any more time trying to get Macara to stay.

Cate left the room, heading back to her new quarters.

* * *

Macara stood for a moment, looking round. He guessed this would be the last look he got of the place. He genuinely didn't intend on coming back. Whilst he had spent the last four years going through the gate, hundreds of Brits had died fighting on Earth. He was going back to stand with them now.

Listening to the sea against the city one last time, Macara strode from his empty quarters.

As he walked into the gateroom, Macara was glad to see there were few people there to mark his leaving; he really couldn't have put up with a fuss. Daniel was there too, ready to head back to Earth to try and find something there that could help them.

Major Rai smiled and shook Macara's hand, bidding him Godspeed. Ronon and Teyla had come by too. Macara said goodbye to each, politely, Ronon even shaking hands with him.

Macara took a moment to cradle Torren, before nodding at them and heading for the gate.

Sheppard appeared at the Ops room balcony.

"Major!" he called. Macara slowed up, turning round.

Sheppard was standing with Sam and McKay. Sam and Sheppard were saluting smartly.

Macara smiled slightly, and placed his beret on his head before coming smartly to attention and saluting back, in the British manner. Behind the major, the gate burst into life.

"Stay safe, Macara," Sheppard called out.

"You too, colonel. Good hunting," Macara replied, before walking through the puddle.

* * *

**Cam paced up and down in the conference room of the SGC, Vala, Teal'c and the MacGregors were there, as was Jack O'Neill and Senator Whitehouse, the Presidents man in the IOA. Cam was fretting over the inactivity as he listened to his seniors' conversation. Something itched his mind. He looked about the room and saw a halo effect from the lighting over Anne MacGregors head. Then it struck him.**

"Ah sirs, the Vatican."

"What?" came a united reply.

"I have a cousin she works in the records office of the Vatican, I think she could be of help."

"How so Mitchell?"

"I believe your Vatican may have extensive data on these Nephilim." Teal'c said flatly, which brought a look of surprise to all but O'Neill.

"He reads too much." Jack said. "Mitchell I thought you were Anglican?"

"I am sir, but my cousin chose unwisely in her marriage." He smiled for the first time in days. "She married an Italian, and now lives in Rome. I know she would be of great help sir, in finding anything that may be recorded there."

"Seems a good idea, I think we should pursue it Jack, and Anne here knows Latin." MacGregor said.

"Hmm, sounds like a plan, Senator?"

"Agreed. Rome it is then."

"Right then, you'll have to go old school though Mitchell, the Dreads resupplying and our 304's are on patrol, and well you know the 340's are...never mind." He picked up the phone, spoke for a few minutes and resumed speaking. "There's a C5 leaving Davis-Monthan base in the morning for the Gulf, they'll make a stopover in Rome for you. Colonel you and your team will be on it, Mac I presume you'll be going as well?"

"Wild horses Jack." He said with a grin and Anne thumped him not too kindly in the ribs.

"He only wants to keep an eye on me." She said with a wicked smile.

* * *

The C5 landed heavily on the Roman runway. The large vehicle slowed up, and began to taxi towards the group of buildings.

As the vehicle came to a stop, the side hatch popped open and SG-1, along with the admiral and his wife, jumped out. Daniel hurried along, hands in his pockets, his embarrassment at Vala's antics on the plane acute. Vala, in turn, skipped along after him, asking if he thought the soldiers had liked her.

Teal'c just slowly shook his head as he paced along.

Two ubiquitous black 4x4's awaited them, and SG-1 hoped in quickly, hoping to avoid any unfriendly eyes.

The vehicles moved off, heading towards the packed tight confines of Rome.

* * *

"You definitely have to go?" John asked as he sat in Sam's office. Macara had only just left, and the idea of losing another command rank didn't appeal to Sheppard.

"The IOA want a briefing, and they've caught Ba'al. I don't think I have a choice." Sam replied.

"Have you told the others?"

"Yes, they know I'm leaving, but not why, yet. I will tell them, though. I would prefer this to come at another time, but this is the way things have gone down. Maybe I'll get a chance to do some more R&D?" she said hopefully.

Sheppard just shook his head. "Swapping out the commander just as everyone has gotten used to her, and at the start of a big crisis sounds like lunacy to me. We need our best minds to fight the Nephilim!"

Sam smiled slightly. "Talking of Nephilim, I have had a message from the SGC. They are trying to get some help for us," Sam changed the subject, handing over a data slate. Sheppard scanned the document quickly, before looking up.

"The Vatican?" he asked, surprised.

"The Vatican," Sam nodded simply.

* * *

The black vehicles stopped at one of the heavily protected side entrances to the famous state. The wall was high, well monitored and the entry point manned by Swiss Guard. Only these soldiers were not the ornately garbed sentries who posed for the crowd. These men wore smart black suits, and it was obvious by the bulges under their left arms they all carried handguns.

As SG-1 moved towards the gateway, Teal'c stopped suddenly and stared intently at some buildings maybe two hundred yards away at the most.

"What is it, Teal'c?" MacGregor asked, Anne looking over too.

"Someone in dark attire was watching us, Admiral MacGregor," Teal'c said, remaining still.

One of the Swiss Guard, a Hauptmann, spoke quickly into his radio. A few more Guardsmen appeared, and moved towards the suspect building. SG-1 were hustled inside the Vatican quickly, and led through the beautiful corridors.

"Do you think we will get to meet the Pope?" Teal'c asked in all seriousness.

One of the Swiss guards glared at him, and MacGregor just chuckled.

The whole group were whisked quickly through the building, Daniel or Mitchell more than once having to grab Vala by the arm and drag her away from some priceless art or statue.

The group was taken to a large library, where an attractive woman stood and hugged Cam as he entered. Cam smiled, and turned to introduce her.

"This is my cousin, Mary,"

"I'm pleased to meet you all. I have a whole series of documents here for you, sirs, as requested. I don't suppose you could tell me what they are for?" she asked.

"Unfortunately not," MacGregor put in quickly. "But we are very grateful for your help,"

Mary nodded, a little crestfallen.

"Cam, we don't need you just now. Do you want to go with Mary and have a look around?"

Cam knew that a hint was being given, and simply nodded before following Mary from the room.

* * *

Several hours passed, until suddenly Anne cried out.

"Here! I've found something!" she held up a large tome.

Daniel raced over and took it from her. He scanned the page, and smiled. "This is gold! All the rest simply mention the Hebrew and Christian myths, but this actually has _something_!" he said again.

"What? Has what?" MacGregor asked, confused.

"No, no,no…." Daniel muttered as he read on. "Nooo," he sighed.

"I think someone may have spoken too soon!" Vala grinned, earning her a swift punch on the arm form the normally good natured Anne.

"Leave him alone! He's doing a better job than you!"

Vala made to reply, but stopped, knowing that Anne would easily have the better of her in any argument. MacGregor smiled at his wife.

"This book mentions a Celtic king, _Lorcan_, who some myths claim battled winged daemons up in Dal Raida…"

"Where?" Anne asked.

"Scotland, love. West coast of Scotland," MacGregor whispered.

"The man died, but protected the whole world. Yet, no Christian would ever allow a pagan Celt to save the planet and take credit. Christians amongst his Scots took his body south to England and from there English priests had the body and all his documentation taken to a place ordained, so the myth goes, by God to hold this secret forever, a sacred place. God, apparently, would not let them simply dispose of this man and his deeds, despite his religion," Daniel read from the book.

"They brought him here?" MacGregor asked, assuming from Daniels words they would have brought to body to the Vatican.

"No, Admiral, the Vatican wasn't even built at this point." Daniel muttered, reading more.

There was a pause as he read,

"Where did they take it then?" Teal'c asked for everyone.

Daniel read for another moment, and then looked up.

"Jerusalem. They took him to Jerusalem."

* * *

Cam said good bye to his cousin, a little sooner than he'd hoped. SG-1 got into the cars again and began to drive away, the beautiful form of the Vatican's domes and balcony soon hidden by the sprawl of city. They quickly briefed Mitchell, who then turned to Teal'c.

"Hey, big guy, guess who we bumped into whilst you were all having fun?"

Teal'c narrowed his eyes. "No, colonel Mitchell.."

"Yes, Teal'c." Mitchell grinned.

"Do you jest, colonel Mitchell?"

"Not in the slightest." Cam replied. Daniel laughed at the look on the Jaffa's face.

"Does anyone think we shouldn't have left Valla in the other car with MacGregor and Anne?" Cam asked suddenly.

At this, even Teal'c grinned slowly.

* * *

"We're being followed," MacGregor said to the driver. The man checked his mirrors and hissed a curse.

"I can't believe those Swiss Guard couldn't find anything, yet we end up getting tailed!" the driver said.

"Just get us to the airport, now." MacGregor replied, drawing his Sig. he heard the driver radio the other car and watched as Mitchell's vehicle also sped up.

Vala grabbed her zat too, and Anne checked to see where the car was. They were being tailed by a dark green fiat with tinted windows. It kept pace with them

Even as the driver sped up, the sting in the ambush came; another vehicle, a Shogun, smacked into their side, jarring them around. The passenger window next to MacGregor was smashed in.

From the green Fiat, a stream of bullets was fired at Mitchell's vehicle, the driver swerving to try and avoid the attack.

Teal'c and Mitchell fired back, their zats hitting the car, the passengers safe from the discharge that grounded almost right away.

A bullet grazed Teal'c, before a dark clad figure in the Fiat fired a zat that struck Mitchell through the shattered rear-windshield. The colonel fell into his seat, and Daniel took his weapon and joined in the fight.

Another Zat round from Teal'c weapon hit the fiat, and this time, as the energy grounded, the engine blew out and the tires exploded outward.

The Fiat swerved, and as the driver swung it round to stop it, the car flipped over and over, before coming to a stop.

The Shogun dented MacGregor's vehicle again, causing the driver to almost lose control.

MacGregor fired into the darkened windshield, surprised to find it wasn't bulletproof.

Vala fired at a black clad figure with an MP5, hanging out the rear window. The man toppled and hit the road, in the path of an oncoming lorry.

"Oh, that's going to hurt…" Vala said guiltily.

Anne grabbed the zat and rolled her cracked window down, trying to help Will with the Shogun.

The two SG vehicles drew closer to the airfield. The shouting was attracting some Italian security, who raised their rifles and fired some warning shots at all three vehicles.

When none stopped, the Italians fired at the Shogun, as it was the slightly closer of the three.

The man who fired his berretta submachine gun made the luckiest shot in the world, as his 9mm parabellum rounds hit the tires and burst them

The Shogun slid to a stop, the driving slamming it into reverse.

"Keep going!" MacGregor told his driver, who drove on. The guards, recognizing the license plates, let them by, before signalling for one of their squad cars to attack the assailants.

"Damn it! I'm willing to bet that was the Trust and the Lucian's again," he spat.

"What are you going to do?" Anne asked, worry in her voice.

"Well, SG-1 are going to Jerusalem. I'm taking the _Dreadnaught_ to pay those Lucian's a little visit," MacGregor snarled, reloading his Sig as the 4x4 pulled up to the hangar.

* * *

"Unscheduled gate activation!" Chuck shouted out, drawing the attention of everyone in Gate operations.

"Who is it?" Lorne asked, dashing to the balcony and gesturing for the security teams to move in.

"Colonel Sheppard, sir," Chuck replied. "IDC confirmed,"

The shield flared then dropped, and Sheppard's team dashed through. Rodney first, as always, Followed by Sheppard, Teyla, AR-5(Atlantis Reconnaissance Team 5), Cate and Sydney, and finally Ronon. The Satedan strolled calmly through, firing away with his pistol, before the shield rose again.

The teams rested, breathing heavily. Teyla, Cate and Sydney were wearing the clothes of the locals on F5K-657. They had let their hair get messed, and had dirt smudged on their faces. The two had been embedded on the planet, which information had said there were Nephilim ruins scattered around, potentially with another in stasis. There was one problem. The local's were terrified of anything they considered would bring the Wraith on them, and that was pretty much everything. Teyla had advised against sending a Gate team through, and that something a little more subtle would be good. The CIA and ASIS agents had volunteered to go through with Teyla.

Everything had been going well until a Wraith cruiser had turned up."Is everyone okay?" Lorne asked.

"No. We just lost Private Jedson. And F5K-657."

"To the Wraith?" Lorne asked, surprised.

"No. The Nephilim." Sheppard said. He was already grabbing fresh clips and getting ready to go back through.

Lorne barked for more Security Force or Marines to come up with weapons ready.

"Where's colonel Carter?" Sheppard asked suddenly.

"She was packing the last of her stuff ready for heading back through to Earth."

"No, she's here," Carter's voice interrupted. She had her kit with her, but she had come running when she heard the alert. Concern creased her face. "What's happened?"

"We have a man down in enemy hands. I'm going back," Sheppard said briefly.

"What happened?" Sam asked again.

"Three Nephilim turned up in a Wraith cruiser, with some drones and Wraith officers. We went to assist Cate and Sydney, but the Nephilim attacked. We wounded one of them with about two clips, but he didn't die...he just...fell back, got out of the line of fire. We pulled back, but one of the buggers hit him with some sort of lightning. He didn't get up. The place will be crawling now." Sheppard said.

Sam sighed, her face sad. "It's true then; there must be another Nephilim on that world, if they are going to that much effort. Stand down, Colonel. There is nothing we can do,"

"But Sam! We have a man down!" Sheppard shouted.

"I know, colonel. But if you go in to get him, you will lose even more!" she said back calmly.

"What happened to leave no man behind?" Sheppard spat.

"Sometimes, it cannot be helped. What we need right now is to debrief and analyse their actions. We will get payback, John," Sam said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Sheppard nodded reluctantly. "Right. I'm going to debrief." He stormed away.

Sam shook her head, then beckoned Cate and Sydney.

* * *

Timrek chastised Lerate for his eagerness to attack, almost letting himself be killed. The short haired Nephilim snarled, but said no more. Creidhne, the long haired, tended to Lerate's wounds.

Wraith policed their dead, the officer trying to please her and the other two.

Timrek was pleased; they were about to uncover another of their kin. Mertaine would be waking, and their numbers were growing. And, of course, they had found Him, and would be waking Him very, very soon...

* * *

Timrek walked through the ruins of her own culture. Lerate was with the Wraith fodder they had brought with them. He was feeding on the spirit essence of the dead humans, regaining his strength. Creidhne, always cunning in his cold malice, was looking at their weapon with intrigue. The Nephilim had evolved to a point where the energy of firearms such as Wraith stunners, Lantean pistols and even the crude Goa'uld staff weapons was dissipated around their bodies and turned into more power to feed their own lightening attacks. Yes, the kinetic force hurt them, but the most lethal properties of the weapons were useless.

But these human guns, so crude, still using projectiles...they could actually damage a Nephilim to the point where their spirits would leave their physical being, what the lesser races referred to as 'death'.

Timrek kept her wings folded, and skipped through the overgrown vegetation like a child, reading script form the sides of broken pillars, remembering times when she was perpetrating the events these ancients stones spoke of.

She stopped at one particularly overgrown ruin. Its stones were still arrayed in a rough square, and even a couple of pillars remained standing higher than waist level.

Timerek heard the beating of wings, and a shadow fell over her. Jocyel landed next to her, one of the human rifles in his hand.

"These weapons may prove dangerous to us. We evolved to withstand the weapons that replaced these...things, now we stand at risk once more." Jocyel said. He was as close to a medic or scientist as you could get amongst the hyper-intelligent Nephilim. Biology, chemistry, physics, they all intrigued him on a level the greatest human brain could only hope to achieve.

"Well, we must adapt anew," Timrek purred, her soft voice almost hiding the pure evil that lay within.

"To adapt in such a huge disparity will take time. We are an amazing race, but even we cannot change our physiology in such a small amount of time. It could take more than a century." Jocyel replied carefully.

Timrek nodded slowly. "How many of these metal projectiles did you take from Lerate's body?"

"Almost one hundred, with another twenty two wounds were the projectiles went straight through.

"Well, that tells you that although they can damage us, in the amount of time it would take we would be upon them and have slaughtered them. Let them have their toys," Timrek said, picking up the rifle with a spear of her electrical powers. With her mind, she used the lightening to grasp, bend and crumple the M4 and tossed it away into the brush.

"Where is Lerate? I need him here for when I awakening him."

"He is feasting on some of the Drones. The essence of already dead humans was not enough for him; he hungered for the souls of the living," Jocyel grinned, exposing his fangs.

"He may not be the smartest amongst us, but he is one of the strongest. I will need him here to ensure that he joins with us and doesn't try to kill us when he is woken," Timrek said.

Jocyel's wings unfurled, and the tall being gusted gently to the air. "I shall fetch him, lady,"


	5. Chapter 5

"Sam, you cant leave right now! We are in the middle of a crisis!" Sheppard sputtered.  
A group of them had gathered around the gate, far more than for Macara's exit only a week ago. John, Rodney, Teyla, Ronon, Cate, Sydney, Zelenka and a dozen others.  
"John, you know I have no choice. Besides, they have caught the last Baal clone, and they want me to go to the Tokra homeworld to attend the extraction," Sam replied, explaining herself yet again.  
"I know, but they must be idiots to recall you now." Sheppard spat.  
"Who will replace you?" Teyla asked unhappily. She had only just round to fully trusting and respecting Carter, and now the colonel was leaving.  
"Mister Woolsey will command here during my...exhaustive...review. Then they will decide whether I should return or not." Sam said simply.  
They said their good-bye's as Chuck dialed the gate. The wormhole opened, and Carter walked towards it.  
"You never know, with this new ZPM on Earth, you may see more of me," she said, smiling wanly. Sheppard just nodded, before coming to attention and saluting sharply, a smart gesture he hadnt done in a while. Carter smiled and returned the salute. She took a look at them all before she walked through.

* * *

The three Nephilim stood around the circle on the floor of the ruins. Lerate had scorched the undergrowth away, leaving burnt, bare stone below.  
Timrek raised both her arms, chanting. Lerate braced his legs, fists clenched at his sides. Creidhne stood with his right hand on his pale, noble chin in contemplation.  
Timrek chanted, and lightning flared from the pillars that remained standing. Clouds formed over the ruins, and the Wraith drones moved away from their masters. Timrek continued to chant as slwoly, with a groan and the grating of ancient stone, the circle began to rise, a cylinder emerging from the ground.

* * *

The gate closed, and Sheppard looked wistfully at it. He wondered what sort of damage a man like Woolsey could cause. He meant well, but he had no leadership qualities Sheppard knew of, and had never command such a large operation.  
How would he control the international contingents? Could he put up with an officer who had international autonomy?  
"How do you think Woolsey will cope?" Ronon asked, mirroring Sheppards thoughts.  
"I really dont know," Sheppard said, as the gate began to dial in from Earth.

* * *

The central cylinder rose from the ground, in the middle four great stasis pods, only these ones were not of Ancient design. They were clear tubes, so a 360 degree view could be had of the inhabitants.  
Three of the pods were filled by Warrior Nephilim, their faces covered by masks reminiscent of ravens, great halberds held in their hands. Their wings were folded, their feathers not white but dirty gray.  
Timrek strode round, gazing intently. Then even she, so cold and cruel, stopped when her eyes fell upon the central pod and the creature within.

* * *

The gate opened, and a moment later, Woolsey strode through in an Atlantis uniform, carrying his cases with him. Sheppard gestured for two SF to grab the baggage from him.  
Woolsey thanked the man, then made a small speech to the Expedition members gathered around the gateroom.  
They gave him a polite, if small, applause then went back to work.  
"Thank you, colonel. I would like to go to my quarters before we have a briefing on the current...situation." Woolsey suggested politely.  
"Of course. Follow these two men and they'll take to your rooms. En suite, great view, and with a little office space of its own." Sheppard said, a somewhat forced smile on his face.  
"Thank you colonel. A briefing in one hour, say, in the conference room. Could you bring all the department heads, please, and the commander of the British contingent? Bring the CIA and ASIS agents too, please."  
"Of course, mister Woolsey," Sheppard replied, and watched the IOA suit walk off after the SFs. "Oh, I hope he's the last unwelcome arrival we have for a some time," Sheppard muttered before walking off himself.

* * *

The creature, and that was an apt term, in the centre was clearly a Nephilim, but where the others were tall, lithe and graceful, this creature was quite obviously one who gave the Fallen their name.  
This Nephalim was almost ten feet tall, and whilst thin, it was in a tightly muscled way. He stooped naturally from the mass of muscle around his back.  
Timrek looked with interest at the beast. He had no proper wings, only bloody stumps. This was an unfortunate result of the violent birth of their race; some of those not only mentally, but physically embodied the name Fallen ones. Those who were amongst the Cursed, or the True Nephilim as they called themselves, had no proper wings, only the stumps of what could have grown. These stumps were always a source of great pain and discomfort, and always appeared to be raw and unhealed.  
This monster also possessed a set of scars that made Lerate looks positively unblemished.  
He wore four great scars across his face, two tearing across the left eyebrow, across the smooth bridge of his nose, and down his right cheek. Another, smaller one lay horizontally across the other cheek, just above his jawline. The final scar, the worst, lay vertically down the left side of his face, deeper more fearful than the others. Where his eye should be just a mass of tortured scar tissue.  
His torso and arms were laced with thick, grey scar tissue. This was the body of a being who had lived for battle, and nothing else.  
Timrek spoke one word, a name.  
"Balor."

The pods hissed into life, lowering into the ground. The first to awaken where the Warriors. They stepped down from the small plinths they were upon, and unfurled their great wings, the way a newly woken man stretches is arms to ward off sleep.  
They looked Timrek up and down, before crashing to attention, Halberds gripped diagonally across their bodies.  
Balor came awake then. The massive creature stepped from the central plinth and flexed his muscles. He smiled cruelly at the three who had awoken him.  
"Timrek, you dare think you can awaken me?" the beast spoke in a voice that seemed as if it could make mountains shake.  
Timrek stood her ground; she was from a Noble line, and no Cursed would speak to her as such. Despite the difference in their immense heights, she spat back.  
"I am one who would command your service. The Lanteans are gone and the universe is ours, brother. Join us and help us!" Timrek purred.  
Balor took a step forward. "Why would I help the like of you? It would take nothing for me to crush you!"  
At that Lerate stepped forward and bared his fangs, crouching for the attack, wings pulled back tightly.  
One of the Warriors stepped forward to engage, swinging its halberd like a willow cane. It sliced down and through Lerate with a massive downward swipe.  
Except Lerate wasnt there. The scarred Fallen had dodge and slid beside the Warrior. Lerate smashed the flat of his right hand onto the Warriors helmet, knocking him off balance. Before it could do anything back, Lerate pressed his left hand against its back and unleashed his electrical fury, causing the Warrior to spasm uncontrollably. Its wings flapped uselessly as Lerate held it.  
As the warrior fell, Timrek's bodyguard seized the Halberd and cleaved through the Warrior's neck, severing it's head. The helmeted appendage rolled for a few feet before bumping to a stop.  
Lerate left the halberd, which had sliced through the stone floor like paper, and was now stuck more than half its blades length, in the ground.  
Balor laughed and with a forward step that seemed too fast for something his size, back-handed the smaller Nephilim a full twenty foot away from the ruins. Lerate landed with a crash.  
"You bring Lerate with which to challenge me?" Balor sneered. "He, and that librarian Creidhne?" Balor chuckled again, a deep throaty growl.  
Creidhne had taken to the air, his hands extended, ready to blast Balor with blue fire. Balor's other Warriors had also risen, ready to engage the long haired Nephilim.  
"I wish not to challenge you, only to join with you. I have plans, Balor, such plans! Join us, and we will take back the galaxy!"  
"What of the ascended Lanteans?" Balor asked, interested.  
"They take no action against any in the universe not on their plain of existence. We have been awake for two months now. They have done nothing to us. Theyre descendents are barbarians, barely out of their caves, only just leaving their world to explore the others in their galaxy. We have nothing to fear."  
Balor looked Timerk in the eyes with his one good black pit. A red fire burned suddenly over his eye, and Timrek dropped to her knees, choking, wings flailing madly.  
After a moment, she composed herself. "It is true, then. You have the power of the bale eye! Lord Balor, join us!" she tried one last time.  
The monster looked at Creidhne and Lerate, who staggered back to the ruins.  
"For the moment, I will follow you." Balor said.  
Timrek bared her fangs, and bowed her head slightly.  
"At least, until I think you unable to lead our people back to their place in the stars," Balor added, sending a chill down the spines of even the cruelest Nephilim present.  
"Come, Timrek. I know where more of our Warriors lay,"

* * *

**Two Weeks Later**

"Major! Major!" Woolsey called to Rai as he walked along the corridors of the main tower. Woolsey dashed after the major, who pretended not to hear and strode on quickly.  
"Major, a moment," Woolsey said, finally catching him up and grabbing his shoulder.  
The major stopped, and wheeled on Woolsey. The look on the Gurkhas face said it all and the IOA suit let go quickly. "Sorry to bother you, major, but your report hasn't been handed in yet."  
Rai sighed. "Has it not? I apologise, sir. I will speak to my adjutant. It seems the man forgot to bring it to you when I asked. Many apologies," the major replied quickly, turning and walking away again.  
"Major Rai...you've not written it yet, have you?" Woolsey said as he watched the departing figure.  
"Of course I have, sir...of course," Rai said, quickly rounding a corner.  
Woolsey shook his head, disappointed. He had been here two weeks now, yet had failed to make any impact on the senior staff of the base. Yes, they treated him with the respect his position required, and ensured their subordinates respected his authority. But there was no respect as a person for him yet.  
He would continue to try and build on it, and hope for the best. But it wasnt easy.  
The British personnel didn't have a sturdy command presence who could keep them in line whilst retaining their autonomy. Rai did a great job as a leader, and his men loved him, but he wasn't able to impose his will on the SGC staff as well. He was finding himself becoming more and more subordinate to the senior American personnel.  
Captain Stewart was never around the same parts of Atlantis as Woolsey when the Lorcan came with supplies or to re-supply. No one could force him to talk to the US personnel if he didn't want to.  
The Australian contingent was now officially set up in Atlantis, and although still quite small, there had been clashes between the Brits and the Yanks again, the Aussies joining in whichever side would give the best brawl. That wasn't helping anything.  
Thankfully, the Nephilim had seemed to go to ground, and no new contact had been made. That was the only positive thing Woolsey could find in the current situation.  
Woolsey sighed, and went back to his office.

* * *

Major Rai was packing his stuff again. His six month tour was almost over, despite only spending half of it in command himself, as Macara had stayed for a while longer than expected. Rai didn't mind. He didn't like complete command. He preferred to be part of the team, leading smaller units. It's what he did best.  
An RAF regiment detachment would be arriving, their first ever tour out here. Their Squadron Leader would take over from Rai.  
Rai was looking forward to some down time, and the little Gurkha smiled at the thought of going home.  
"Major Rai! We need you in Gate control!" his comm went off. Rai sighed, and ran from his room.

* * *

"Daniel, we havent found anything and weve been here for two weeks!" Vala yawned. "It's almost a month since we went to Italy! Why are we still here?"  
"Well, we would have been here sooner if it wasnt for the Israeli government dragging their heels about letting us search. And this would be going much quicker if you didn't keep annoying Mossad!" Daniel said quickly. Already, Vala had been caught trying to figure out ways to get many artifacts from their homes, and every time Mossad let her go under the assurances of General Landry.  
"Daniel Jackson," Tealc's deep timbre sounded. "I have found something,"  
"Thank heavens! We've only been in this dusty library for three days," Vala complained again, but stopped when she caught Daniels look.  
"What is it, Tealc?" Daniel asked, reading the page the Jaffa held open.  
"I cannot be tell, but the pictures appear to show a pale warrior wearing wode," Tealc replied.  
Daniel read, and then hugged the Jaffa "You genius! You've done it! A location!" Daniel said over and over again.  
"I think we need to get him out of this heat." Vala said, biting her lip.  
All the while, Cam lay asleep in a chair, cap over his face.

* * *

"What is wrong?" Rai asked.  
"We need a team to go and rescue some personnel," Woolsey said, worry in his voice. "Some of our surveyors, with a small team, have come under attack. They cant get to the gate."  
"Wraith?" the small Major asked.  
"Yes, and they think possibly with a Nephilim, too..." Woolsey said, eyes wide.  
"Atlantis personnel, or US?" Rai asked, knowing where his obligations lay.  
"Well, US, but..." Woolsely began.  
"AR-1?" the major asked of Sheppards team.  
"They are on another world, and we won't get them in time. We dont have any competant combat rank here, now major Valenski has left for rehab. Major, I know these are not Atlantis personnel, so technically out of your remit, but please! Help?" Woolsey asked.  
"How many?"  
Woolsey thought for a second. "Ten civilians, I believe, and four Security troopers."  
Rai thought. If a Nephilim was leading the attack, then was every chance the US team would be dead already. There was also every chance if he led his men through the gate, many would die.  
But Rai also knew what the right thing to do was.  
"Get Sergeant Dempsey, and Wacca. I want their teams. And get me any USM still on base," Rai said, before turning on his heel.  
"What about you, major? Where are you going?" Woolsey asked as the major was leaving.  
"To get my Gurkhas, Woolsey, and tell them they might not all be going home tomorrow." Rai said sadly.


	6. Chapter 6

"Watch the left!" the Marine lieutenant called, firing his M4 at the encroaching Wraith.  
The scientists with him mostly cowered from the fighting, a few firing their M9s randomly in the enemy direction.  
The four man Security detail were desperately holding back the Wraith, but the Drones were getting too close now.  
And the Nephilim was causing all sorts of trouble just by its presence.  
The tall creature had a vaguely Raven shaped mask, and a massive Halberd. It was directing the Wraith attack, but seemed to be keeping back. For the moment at least.  
The lieutenant fired his M4 again, when a blast of energy shot past his head and struck his 2IC in the neck, the man's throat fused in a heartbeat.  
The Wraith were getting closer, and the lieutenant knew they were done for.  
A whole new layer of gunfire errupted from the other side of the Wraith, in a perfect enfilade. A dozen Drones went down in the first moments, despite their tough constitutions and regenerative abilities.  
The firing continued, until figures emerged from the woods. Gurkhas, SSR and even some of Waccas CDTs, advancing steadily on the Wraith Drones, who started to fragment and break.  
"Move in! Move in!" Rai called. "Ayo Gorkhali!" he yelled.  
The Gurkhas echoed the cheer, firing steadily into the enemy. Here and there a Gurkha dropped, mainly to stun blasts, but at least two were hit by Wraith kill-blasts.  
The Nephilim Warrior made some strange vocalisation and took to wing.  
"Watch that one!" Dempsy called to the SRR and SAS combined fireteam, and the SFs, in perfect unison, brought their rifles up and fired at the mythical horror.  
The grey winged Fallen glided towards them, trying its best to dodge the hail of fire directed at it. Still, numerous NATO rounds hit, bright patches of purple-pink blood appearing on its almost alabaster torso.  
In less time than it took to reload an empty magazine, the Nephilim had landed amongst the British Special Forces. Most of them managed to dive away or get into cover, but one grey-berreted soldier and Dempsey were right in the creatures path.  
The Nephilim brougth its Halberd down on the SRR trooper, who had brought his rifle up to parry. The halberd sliced straight through the rasied weapon and continued down through the soldier, cleaving the man from head to loin. It was not a pretty sight.  
Dempsey cried out and fired his G36 Cmdo into the beast's chest and open wings, and it recoiled for a moment, before swinging its glaive back-handed and catching Dempsey in the chest.  
The rear-point of the great weapon punctured through kevlar and flesh alike, and the Sergenat Major was flung across the ground like a rag doll.  
"Bring it down!" Rai bellowed in a voice too large for the small man.  
A few Wraith continued to fight, but the Gurkhas were more worried about the Nephilim. Rai directed the SFs to grab the science team and get them to the gate whilst the Gurkhas dealt with the Raven-masked Warrior.  
Minims, L85s and GPMGs sputtered rounds at the impossible fast creature as it twisted and dove like a dance, drawing closer and closer to the soldiers.  
Rai snarled as two of his gurkhas were killed by a single swipe. The way this was going, he couldn't hope to beat that beast.  
"Pull back to the gate!" he ordered. "Go, go!"  
The little major stopped one of his Gurkhas and grabbed the NLAW the man was carrying.  
The Nephilim, seeing his foe retreating, bellowed with victory and jumped into the air, before turning on Major Rai and flying straight at him.  
Rai sorted the sights on the missile launcher and aimed at the oncoming Nephilim. He waited unitl the last second, so he couldnt miss and the creature couldn't dodge, before pulling the trigger.  
"I win," Rai muttered.  
The missile exploded form the launcher and in a heartbeat had hit the Nephilim square in the Torso. The already damaged body could take no more, and the Nephilim's chest burst out behind it. His wings burned form the explosive blast, and the beats screeched in pure agony before falling to the ground with an audible *thump*.  
The brave Major Rai saw none of this, the explosive backwash killing him in his moment of victory.

* * *

On their new Hive, Balor roared with anger.  
"What is it, Bale King?" Timrek asked, knowing something had haapened.  
All around them, fearful Drone stood at their stations, the Wraith commander sunusually subdued. That had something to do with the mounting pile of Wraith corpses that had barely sated Balors hunger for souls, and the Wraiths did not sate him like Humans did.  
"One of my Warriors has been killed! He was careless, and led his Drones into an ambush, but even then he should have made light work of the humans!" Balor snarled. "They killed one of my chosen Guard! Take us to that world, I will retrieve his body before they can defile it, "  
"At once," Creidhne said from the controls.  
Timrek smield cruelly to herself, knowing full well that when it came time to unleash Balor's anger, it would be a most enjoyable event.

* * *

The teams came through the gate without cheers of victory, to a sad reception. Four Gurkhas carried Major Rai and his two dead troopers, the SRR carrying their own comrades.  
"What happened?" Sheppard asked as he dashed into the Gateroom, not even out of his combat gear, coming straight for the Jumperbay as soon as he had arrived and the Gate redialed.  
Wacca looke dup, even this tough old mans eyes wetting at the corners.  
He killed the bastard, sir. Wacca said proudly. It was killing his men, so he put a rocket in the things chest.  
Sheppard sighed and shook his head.  
"What happened to the Nephilim?"  
"A Hive came into orbit, sir, as we were policing. I thought it prudent to get our own lads back safely before considering the enemy," Wacca said, almost bitterly at the tone the colonel had taken.  
"Sorry, WO, I didn't mean anything by it. You made the right choice. Carry on," Sheppard nodded him on.  
Richard Woolsey called down from Gate ops.  
"Take them to the Infirmary, see if there is anything Doctor Keller can get from them regarding the Nephilims' weapons. John, would you contact the SGC for me?" Woolsey asked. Arrange for repatriation. Im going to write some letters, the IOA suit said sadly. He had asked Rai to go on the mission, and he felt terrible at the outcome.  
Sheppard helped cover the majors body in a sheet, before the Gurkhas, many openly with tears on their cheeks, took the major to the infirmary.  
Sheppard walked up to Woolsey.  
"He was a soldier, Rishard. He knew it could happen,"  
"But I asked him especially, because you werent here. Its my fault he died." Woolsey said, himself on the verge of guilt ridden tears. Sheppard went to continue, before remembering reading the report of the Airforce Securitymen who had died due to Woolsey's decisions in the SGC.  
"He took one of them out with him, Richard. He died bravely,"  
"He did that. He did that." Woolsey mutter, composing himself. "At least we know we can kill them,"  
Woolsey watched the Gurkhas leave the room, before Sheppard spoke up again.  
"You know its a truly sad day when men like those cry," the Lt. Colonel sighed himself, and went to debrief the survivors.

* * *

**A whole Galaxy away...**

"This is absolute gold, Teal'c!" Daniel said as they went through the crypt. "This is what weve been looking for!" he continued.  
"I wish it was," Vala huffed behind him.  
As they walked along the narrow passageway, they could see crude, yet very descriptive pictures along the walls. It showed a place of green hills and rain, and a scene with many blue painted warriors, fighting what looked like twisted, evil angels.  
"This is definitely the place," Vala said with more than a little boredom in her voice, "Look, they've got those funny angel people and everything..." she bit her lip as Daniel rounded on her.  
"Nephilim. They are called Nephilim. And they are the harbingers of all doom! Not funny little angels!" he said, getting angrier by the moment.  
"Calm it, Jackson, lets keep moving," Cam said, shining his torch and patting Daniel on the shoulder.  
They could see many more pictures, some with Hebrew below, as they followed the tight passageway through the bowls of Jerusalem. Teal'c was fascinated, as ever, by Earth's cultures, Mitchell was looking for something to shoot and Vala, of course, was looking for valuables. Daniel kept stopping to read.  
"See, this one here? This is where they carried Lorcan from Scotland, or Dal Raida, at the time, and here is where he arrives in the Holyland,"  
Tea'lc thought for a moment, then asked the question that everyone was wondering (including the readers)  
"The British 305 is named Lorcan, too, Daniel Jackson. Is it safe to surmise that the ship is named after this individual we seek?"  
Daniel thought over it for a moment. "Lorcan was quite a common Irish name, loosely translated as..."  
"I thought you said this guy was Scottish," Cam stated.  
"Yes, he is, from Dal Raida..." Daniel tried to reply.  
"But you just said he had an Irish name." Cam replied, chuffed with his observational skills.  
"The Scots were from Ireland..." Daniel started.  
"But who was in Scotland then?" Vala asked next.  
"The Picts."  
"They why is it called Scotl..." Vala started.  
"The Scots moved over, joined with the Picts, let the Picts kill a bunch of their enemies, then killed what was left of the Picts and took over, happy now?" Daniel said in a rush of words. "As I was _trying_ to say, Lorcan loosely translates as Fierce Lord of Battle."  
"So the HMS Lorcan is aptly named, then," Teal'c said with a small smile. "But if this Warrior were so fierce, why do none of his own people know of him?"  
"I believe that when they took his remains from Dal Raida to here, they covered up all trace of the Nephilims' existence and anything to do with it. The druids and early Christian priests never wrote anything down, if was all passed word of mouth, and if there is no one to pass it down..."  
"It becomes lost in time," Teal'c nodded sagely.  
"Exactly. Can we move on now?" Daniel asked  
The group plunged deeper into the catacomb-like vaults, until they came to a room with no more passages.  
Everywhere, there lay scrolls and parchment of considerable age. And in the centre there lay a simple, stone tomb with a simple figure carved on top, and faint, grey marking across the face of the sculpture.  
"It's him." Daniel breathed. "This must be. See those grey lines? Ill bet you anything that those are ancient wode lines that havent faded here in the cold, dark vault." He said, running over.  
"Just be careful, Jackson," Cam advised.  
"What's to worry about? It's not like we are on a world where the Goa'uld or Lucian alliance may turn up," Vala said offhand as Daniel read script from the tomb.  
"Do not move," a voice growled with a Hebrew accent.  
Cam and Teal'c wheeled, zats ready. Behind SG-1 where perhaps some of the quietest stalkers ever.  
Four men in dark clothing, with balaclavas, had Uzis pointed at them.  
"Well, well. You just had to open your big mouth, didnt ya?" Cam said to Vala, glaring at her.  
"Oops..."

* * *

In Pegasus

"What I can tell from the Halberd, did you say? Yes, the Halberd wounds, is that the weapons seems to kill off whatever it slices through. Even a small wound can lead to death over a course of time," Keller was speaking to the assembled officers, with Yamato and Wacca in attendance as senior NCOs. "The cells, nerve endings, everything, seems to just go cold and die. There is no major deterioration of anything. Its almost as if the body has been frozen at the point of injury." Keller continued.  
"Any idea how?" Sheppard asked. Keller just fixed him with one of her looks.  
"Maybe if I could see their weapons, or the technology in them, I could figure it out," McKay said, with no hint of sarcasm or superiority in his voice. Everyone, it seemed, had been affected by the recent casualties, especially the charismatic Gurkha Major. He had always been helpful, brave, steadfastly loyal to his friends and always ready with a smile.  
"I don't want any Gate teams to go out alone," Sheppard said. "No more four man teams until this crisis is over. All established Atlantis Recon teams will pair up with another. The British units always move in squad size anyway, but the Australian CDTs are to operate in squads too. Fireteams just don't provide the firepower needed to defend against the types of enemies we are facing." Sheppard said. The officers, and the two spooks, Cate and Sydney, were all taking notes.  
Cate stood and took her appointed slot in the briefing.  
"We have found that here, she touched the projector button so a little holographic image appeared. On D3X-290, there is signs of a Nephilim burial ground, as they are referred to. Same as on F5K-657. We think these are places where the creatures are in suspended animation." Cate reported to the group.  
"And?" Woolsey asked.  
"Well, we set up a covert OP and watch for any activity. Possibly try and disrupt it, too." Sydney put in.  
Woolsey shook his head.  
"No. We have only just sent home the bodies of six men killed by those creatures. Im not putting any more in direct harm,"  
"With respect, a covert team, maybe with some heavy duty sniper weapons, with a line of sight on the ruins and a straight, short run to a cloaked Jumper should be fine," Sheppard said. "We cant let a clear recon opportunity get by us."  
"But would any information be worth the potential price in lives?" Woolsey interjected. "I don't think I could give IOA approval."  
Sheppard scoffed and stood.  
"I can't believe youd waste this opportunity," Sheppard said before leaving.  
The others looked at Woolsey as if saying they agreed with his sentiment, but that it was the wrong route to take.  
"Let's have a break. Meet up again in say, twenty minutes?" Woolsey said, pleading with them all.

* * *

"Sheppard, wait." Ronon called, bounding down the corridor behind the colonel. "Is there definitely no way we can get Woolsey to reconsider?"  
"Possibly. I can see his point, but he feels guilty about Rai and now he is being over cautious."  
Ronon just nodded in reply.  
"I am the military commander. I'm considering dialing Earth and getting General Landry's permission," Sheppard went on.  
"Go over Woolseys head?"  
"If I have to, yeah!" Sheppard said in his normal way.  
"It'll make him even harder to work with, not to mention the IOA," Ronon said.  
Sheppard looked at the tall Satedan. "You know what Chewie, you don't say much, but when you do..."  
"What can I say, I'm a people person."  
Sheppard chuckled at that, before mulling something over.  
"What?" Ronon asked, curious.  
"We need someone who has a level of Autonomy and would do it just to piss off the IOA." The colonel muttered.  
"You mean Macara," Ronon said right away.  
"Yeah. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I wish he was here, now."

* * *

There were four senior officers in the Gate room when the bodies began to arrive, Anne MacGregor look with sincere sadness down on the Ghurka soldiers carrying their comrades, she turned to her husband, O'Neill and Landry.

"We have to find a way to stop this, you three know that. These Nephilim, will not stop in Pegasus, and as we have already discovered they may be in our sphere as well." He look changed from sadness to anger.

"Captain, with all due respect, what can we do? These beings are so far beyond anything we have to fight with. Look at this report on Major Rai, the thing took a missile to bring it down, and then only after being riddled with small arms fire." Hank told her.

"Hank, I'm sorry but my wife is right, we're just not thinking this out properly. The creatures can die, we just have to figure out how to do it with the least risk to our own." MacGregor said.

Jack turned around as another officer came down the spiral stairs from the briefing room, he hestitated a moment and then greeted the man. "Colonel Caldwell, you're back early, Daedalus repairs all done?"

"Yes sir, I just came by to receive my orders General."

MacGregor turned from looking out the window. "Ah, Steven, good to see you, how's the shoulder?"

"Er, fine Admiral." He sensed a tension and pause in the air. He knew about what had happened but was anxious to get his ship back to Atlantis, they would certainly be needing it soon.

"Well yes Steven, about your orders." Mac turned to the two Generals. "I think now is as good a time as any, don't you?"

"Yes, I ceratinly do. Colonel Caldwell would you mind coming up to the briefing room?" Landry said, his face brightened just a bit, after the gloomy scene before.

"You go on ahead, I'm going down to the infirmary." Anne said as the men looked at her before leaving. Mac smiled at her with a slight sadness in his eyes.

Hank ducked into his office briefly and returned with something in his hand. Then he spoke as he returned, Mac and O'Neill flanking the hapless Colonel. "Firstly youre not taking the Daedalus back, Colonel Davis will be, well as soon as he receives his promotion tomorrow he will be..."

"But Gen..."

"Aha, Colonel." Jack said with a wry grin on his face.

"You'll going to Japan tonight to join the Victory, but not as captain, that will be Captain Visily Sashenko." Mac said with an even bigger grin.

"What..er I dont understand?"

Hank couldn't hide it any longer, he handed the blue velvet container to Steven, he opened it and saw two bright silver stars. "Oh Chrst, I didnt see this coming."

"No you didn't, did you, _General_ Caldwell." Jack said as the other two joined him in congratulating him.

"Now the business at hand Steven. You are now officially Fleet Commander of Pegasus Station, you will report directly to me or Jack, all Atlantis military operations will now be your perview. The Daedalus will accompany you, as will the Iwo Jima. Oh and you can inform Lt. Colonel Sheppard of his promotion when you get back, any questions? You leave in one hour." Mac told him.

"Ah, no Admiral. Sirs." He sharply saluted them all. Even though it was not required of him to do so, and he walked away humming a tune, which was most out of character for him. He counted his fleet, a 310 and a 304, and two 340's, that's if the _Fraiser_ was still in one piece when he got back, and he wasn't even including the British ship, yet.

"Well we made someones day." Jack said. "Mac I believe you have an appointment somewhere in the Lucian backyard?"

"Yes, thanks for reminding me Jack. I'll just get my gear and be ready for the Dreadnaught in ten. Anne is going to Atlantis to assist Dr. Kellar I believe, so I'll just say goodbye to her."

"Do that Mac, but you're not going alone, you'll pick SG1 up on your way, after of course ascertaining their mission is complete. If it is not, assist them anyway you can." Landry told him bluntly.


	7. Chapter 7

"Ah...hi." Daniel said.  
"Anything we can do to help you all?" Mitchell asked, zat aimed squarely at the lead figure.  
The man lowered his Uzi slightly, though his comrades kept theirs aimed.  
"You are not welcome here. You can leave, now, or you can stay. Forever," the man said.  
"What? Oh, come on! How cliched is that?" Mitchell laughed, tilting his head to look at Teal'c. "Can you believe he just said that?"  
"Er, Cam, this may not be the time to humiliate them." Daniel muttered.  
"We cannot let you take any of the information located here. This is a secret place, and the events that led to this must be kept secret, for all our sakes." The lead man spoke through his balaclava, raising his Uzi again.  
"And you would kill four innocents, trying to help humanity?" Teal'c asked, his gun arm never wavering.  
"Whatever is necessary,"  
"Wait, wait, wait. Who the hell are you guys?" Cam asked suddenly. "Hamas? Mossad?"  
"We are older and more powerful than either. And our name is not your concern, SG-1," the lead man replied. "All you need know is that we have operatives from both, who work together against a larger threat than that of Nations boundaries,"  
"Hey, thats not fair now, is it? You know us!" Vala said petulantly.  
The four men edged in further, slowly encircling SG-1.  
"We defend the secrets of this place and keep Earth safe from a great threat. Anything you do here could awaken them. We know the SGC travels the Gates. We keep your secret safe from others, so it would be fair and even for you to leave us with ours, the leader said, trying to be diplomatic and avoid violence, despite the aggressive stance."  
Daniel nodded. "We thank you, then, for that service. But are you speaking of the Nephilim?"  
The four men froze, stances tense and ready to attack at the mention of the name.  
"You know of them?"  
"We found some. They are awake now, we think," Daniel said hesitantly.  
"Destroyers! You have condemned us to an eternity of punishment form the Fallen! We, the Children of the Anakim, were to stop this from happening!" the leader of the men said, his finger tightening on the trigger.  
A moment later, a humming noise filled the room, and the smell of Ozone.  
Daniel threw himself on some scrolls and books, grabbing them tight, as the Asgard beam dematerialised SG-1 a moment before 9mm fire filled the confined room.

* * *

"Welcome aboard, SG-1," Caldwell said, standing form his chair.  
"Thanks for the save," Mitchell said. He nodded to Caldwell, before noticing the shiny new rank pins the general wore.  
"Sir!" Mitchell came to attention, saluting sharply.  
"As you were, colonel. I'm still getting used to these things myself." Caldwell smiled.  
"Correct me if I am wrong, General Caldwell," Teal'c said in usual, respectful manner, taking the promotion easily in his stride. "But we are not aboard the Daedalus?"  
"No, we aren't Teal'c. Come to the briefing room, and I'll let you all know what is happening."

* * *

Wacca and his team crawled along a little more. Their gillie suits were perfect, amongst the forest floor.  
In yet another forest clearing, on yet another world covered in trees, the four men hunkered down in pairs, Wacca and one of his junior Petty officers, the others about twenty meters away.  
Wacca wondered what his SASR comrades would say about him stalking with a CDT team? He chuckled at the insults he knew would be coming his way.  
Across the clearing, more ruins sat overgrown and disused, little more than a quarter of a kilometer away.  
"I'm getting pretty sick of planets that all look the same, boss." The Petty Officer, Bishop, whispered. Wacca elbowed him sharply.  
"Keep it to a minimum!" he whispered back.  
The teams were watching a group of Wraith with some Nephilim. There were two Warriors and particularly fierce looking Fallen, whose wings were almost as dark as his Warriors and he was covered in thin scars. He had short cropped hair, and was chanting something towards the ruins.  
Wacca watched through a scope, Bishop through the sights of a L115A3 that Wacca had requisitioned from the Brits. The other team had bigger calibre, if less accuracy. They were using an American Cheytac; Waccas idea being that the massive round, coupled with a headshot, would make even a Nephilm think twice.  
As they watched, the ruins exploded into motion, and a large cylindrical tube emerged. There were four chambers in it.  
Wacca whispered into his throat mike.  
"Watch for any movement in our direction. Team two, take a bead on one of the ones carrying Halberds, get ready to take a headshot if necessary,"  
Wacca received to clicks of affirmation.  
The CDTs watched closely to the events unfolding.

* * *

From the Chambers, four Nephilim awoke and roared as they returned to the Galaxy. Two were grey-winged, Raven helmed Warriors; these two carried not the long, ceremonial Halberds, but each carried a pair of curved sabres each fully a metre and a half long. These Warriors were marked out not simply as Soldiers of the Nephilim race, but Guardians.  
The other two pods opened. A slim, tall female appeared, her pale frame held erect, perfect, without blemish or scar. Only the cold look of malice in her eyes marked her out as not a being of beauty, but evil incarnate.  
The other was a smaller, hunched-back Nephilim with small wings, ones that looked like they had worn away. He was gaunt and drawn, clearly ancient even amongst their race. Like all the others, they wore simple robes from the waist down, and not much else.  
"Lerate," the small one hissed.  
Lerate looked the duo up and down, unimpressed.  
"I take it you are the seeker, Uaithne?"  
The smaller Nephilim nodded.  
"That makes you Cerridwen, then" Lerate stated of the pale, cold beauty. She bared her fangs in a mock smile, and nodded to him.  
"Yes, Lord" her only reply.  
"Why have thee wakened us. Is it time?" Uaithne asked.  
"Yes, Ancient one. Timrek desires your presence amongst the ranks. She is reuniting the Nephilim lords, and building up her forces," Lerate gestured to his two Warriors.  
"Very good, Lord Lerate. Have thee awakened Balor, yet? Hmm?" Uaithne asked.  
Lerate scowled, his face a mask of hate and anger. "We did. It was he who told us how to find you, Ancient one."  
"Good. You have a ship?" the wizened Nephilim asked.  
Lerate pointed skyward as a shadown emerged from the clouds.

* * *

Wacca and Bishop looked up, too.  
It was a Wraith cruiser, but unlike any they had ever seen. The Nephilim had obviously set to work on it.  
Across the top of the Cruiser were protrusion that looked for all the world like angelic wings of Obsidian grey. There were several points that extended forward from the smooth curve of the arm of the wing that looked like lightning rods; or weapons ports.  
Wacca returned his gaze to the gathering.

* * *

"I see you utilise our old servants once more." Uaithne said. "Have they all come to heel again?"  
"No," Lerate hissed. "Several Queens like their new sense of freedom and stand against us."  
The Old Nephilim laughed; a harsh, grating sound, high pitched the creak of wood and the Harlequins of myth.  
"They will pay. How many ships has Creidhne altered? It can only be the work of he,"  
Lerate looked the Ancient one up and down; how much should he tell him?  
"Half a dozen Cruisers. He is working on the first Hive, but it will take many weeks," Lerate began, before stopping. He looked at Cerridwen, who was swaying at Uaithne side, her black eyes drawn back, revealing a blood red cornea.  
"What is it?" Timreks strong arm asked of the Ancient One.  
"She has found something for me to seek," Uaithne crooned.  
Chastiol straightened suddenly, and pointed across the clearing.  
"There!" she hissed with delight.

* * *

Wacca dropped the scope in fright as it seemed the evil beauty pointed at him.  
"Shit. Time to go, people!" he roared into his radio. "Take a shot then run for the gate!"

* * *

Daniel immediately realised they were on a newer ship when he saw the _'Victory' _motif emblazoned on one bulkhead, he shook his head when he remembered not so long ago seeing the ship in Japan and marvelled at the expediancy of getting her launched. As they traversed the long number one deck passage he glanced out a window and saw three more ships in line abreast, the sistership of this one, _Dreadnaught_, the _Daedalus_ a little further, and the much smaller 340 class, though he could not make out it's ID. _"What?" _He thought. _"Are we having a ships review?"_

Caldwell led them eventually to a large room, adorned with posters of aircraft and ships of the worlds many nations, a flag stand at one end, with probably all the Earth's National Flags and a long polished timber table, it was new, he breathed in the aroma, such a relief from the catacombs they had just been in. At the head of the table sat Admiral MacGregor, he beckoned them all to sit. Eight other high ranking officers were already there, Daniel recongnised Colonel Gregary Chenkakov, from the Russia, a man he had crossed words with a few years ago, the fellow smiled at him, as if the past was now at peace.

* * *

The two great warships entered the Milky Way from places unknown, they had been in the shadows for eon's but now automated systems had alerted them to the presence of an old and dangerous nemesis, it was at last time to finally reveal themself. The commander of the _Silver Star_, a ship very much like the Ancient Aurora class only larger and sleeker, a black sometimes green sheen covering it's hull; called his comrade on the _Red Hawk_.

A tall man, very human like, with long brown hair in braids, his very appearance a picture from their Earth children's tales of the immortal elves, for that indeed is what he was, answered the coms vid.

"Yes Haleth, we have tracked the Winged ones here, they have awoken indeed."

"It's such a sadness if left unchecked Timral, they'll destroy everything we help build all those millenia ago."

"Indeed Haleth, but do you think the Ancient's children will welcome us?"

"They are as much our children as well Timral, they carry a lot of our blood in them to. We will contact them as we near their system"

"There are several of their small ships orbiting the old homewolrd now, so it would appear they have come a long way in such a short time."

"Yes, when we left them, at the end of the last great wars, I feared they would regress."

"Apparently not, my scans show the ships carry the infuence of both the Ancients and Asgard, this may bode well for what we can offer them."

Haleth thought pensively for a moment. He fiddled with a tablet device. Calling up various scans of the last few days. "Yes I hope we can more than offer them aid, I would much like to join battle once again, it has been an overlong time since the Anakim showed our strength against the blighted ones. They to, have allied themselves with another evil race."

Timral stepped down from his control chair and looked behind him down the long passageway, hundreds of his people slept in cyro chambers, warriors, scholars, teachers. The core of the Anakim race, travelling the Universe in their great ships. The _Silver Star_ carried even more. Yes there was much the 'Children' will learn.

* * *

"After them!" Lerate roared, taking to the air. His Warriors, and Uaithne's Guardians, did the same, heading for the prone soldiers.  
The first Warrior snapped back suddenly, and there was a viciously loud report. The Nephilim fell to the ground, and struggled for a moment, before hauling himself up.  
His mask was smashed all along the right side, and a great, bloody tear marked the pale head beneath.  
A second round sounded, taking another Warrior in the gut. The Nephilim continued on as if nothing had happened.

* * *

"Go! Into the tree cover!" Wacca bellowed, and his men ran. They had a good start on the Nephilim, and the senior WO reasoned that the dense tree cover would stop them merely swooping down on them from above.  
They could hear the flap of great wings drawing closer, but they still had an advantage.  
At the full sprint, the four men ran, dodging tree trunks and roots, their breath rasping deeply in their chests. They dropped their ghillie suits as they ran, getting rid of anything that would slow them down.  
Wacca turned his head to see one of the Warriors crash down through the canopy, only to tangle his mighty, grey wings in the upper branches. The creature screamed in anger, cutting at the thick limbs with his halberd. Wacca wondered, as he ran, why it simply didn't fry them with its electricity-like powers.  
The men burst into the gate clearing. The Nephilim were right behind them now, one of the Warriors drawing near.  
The gate, however, was already active. As the brave CDTs approached, a section emerged from the grass and shrubs, G36-CM held tightly.  
The eight men in their DPM fired desperately at the lead Nephilim. They were in no illusions to their ability to kill it; they simply wanted to slow it down.  
Waccas fire team sprinted up the steps to the gate and dove through. The SBS team emptied their magazines into the Nephilim Warrior, causing the thing enough pain to at least drop back out their line of fire. The SF stopped firing and followed Waccas team.

* * *

"Close the shield!" Wacca called as the last SBS soldiers rolled through into the gateroom room. Chucked obeyed, and a moment after the force field had erected, the gate turned off.  
"Warrant Officer! How dare you disobey my orders!" Woolsey said in anger, walking over quickly.  
"I think I picked up the wrong gate address, sir."  
"You put lives at risk!" Woolsey said back.  
"Yes, sir, I did. I should really double check which Gate address I get Chuck to dial," Wacca said, looking straight ahead, which also happened to be an inch over Woolseys head.  
Woolsey sighed, knowing he couldn't win.  
"Did you find anything out? "  
"Plenty, sir." Wacca replied.  
"Meet me in my office in twenty minutes," the IOA suit said, stomping away.  
Sheppard wandered over. "That was risky, Wacca. You could lose your position here. Not to mention get me in trouble,"  
Wacca smiled. "But it was worth it to see the look on his face, sir,"


	8. Chapter 8

"Spencer, I do not appreciate my orders being disobeyed," Woolsey said, trying to put as much authority into his comment as possible.

"No, sir," Wacca replied, dropping into the NCO's best defence against authority; yes sir, no sir, three bags full sir.

"Then why did you do it? You took twelve of the best trained soldier in the world into a situation they very well may have died in." Woolsey said.

"I must have gotten the gate address mixed up, sir,"

"So you said. That doesn't sound very believable."

"No, sir." Wacca said staunchly.

"I assume from your desperate entry into Atlantis, that there were Nephilim there?"

"Yes sir,"

"Any casualties?" Woolsey asked, quickly growing tired of two word answers.

"No, sir."

"And you maintain you didn't mean to go to that world?"

"Yes, I do, sir." Wacca strained the last word almost to the point of insolence.

"Fine, it was an 'accident'. I won't pursue the matter any further. Did you learn anything?" Woolsey said, knowing that he wasn't getting anything form the tough Aussie.

"A little, sir. Would you like a quick account now, or wait for the staff briefing this afternoon?"

"Tell me at the briefing. Dismissed," Woolsey said.

Wacca came to attention and left, trying not to let Woolsey see his broad grin.

* * *

The Last of the Gurkhas, and the SBS unit, stood in the gate room ready to leave. Rai may have died, but they still had to finish their tour.

The gate flared into life, and the first refo's came striding through.

The young men were first timers, and they stared in awe even as they formed up. They wore DPM, and they had blue-grey berets on their head with an RAF cap badge.

The men filed in and came to attention. The Gurkha captain, a young man from Swansea, took the salute from the RAF Squadron Leader.

"You stand relieved," the older man said, dropping his arm. The Gurkhas headed through the gate home, followed by the SBS troopers.

Sheppard wandered over and gave a smart salute to the Squadron Leader. The man came to attention, but didn't salute back. Sheppard glanced up, remembering he didn't have a headdress on.

"Ah. Major…?" the colonel held out his hand.

"Squadron Leader. Richard Dale, RAF Regiment. Colonel Sheppard, I presume?"

"That's me. RAF Regiment? I thought we were getting Marines again,"

"Not bloody likely, mate. I mean, sir. Those boys don't want anything to do with Atlantis and the UKGTF for some time. Their head-shed in the Admiralty and their UKGTF senior Officer decided that their talents were better used at home, trying to extricate our forces from Afghanistan." Dale said politely.

"When you say GTF Senior, do you mean Major Macara?" Sheppard asked, surprised.

"Sounds like the chap. Scottish bloke, always really down, as if he were constantly annoyed or upset?"

Sheppard nodded.

"Yes, that was him. 'Had an important meeting with the Marine General and the Admiralty, and Horse Guards. By the end of it, the Navy had withdrawn all their support. From what I can tell, the major's opinions were taken under advisement by the Admiralty."

Sheppard shook his head sadly. He couldn't believe Macara had done something like that.

"So, the SBS guys that left, they won't be coming back again either?"

"Probably not, sir. There is even a rumour that the Navy may recall the _Lorcan_ for duties around Earth, or even turn her over to the Air Force. That's how much the RN has decided it doesn't like the UKGTF. But you've got the SRR and you have us now, nothing to worry about."

The senior NCO of the RAFR ordered the men to their quarters, and a trio of City security led the Half-Squadron to their area.

Sheppard led Dale to the briefing room, talking away as they walked.

"So, are you guys like the USAF security? You patrol fences and airbases?" Sheppard asked. He saw Dale's eyes darken slightly.

"That is only a very small part of our duties. We are front line combat soldiers, sir. We excel in area defence, Air-support direction, Support gunnery, foot patrols and clearing buildings." Dale said with no small amount of pride. "We might not be as well-known as the Marines, or as fancy as the Guards, but the Rock Apes get the job done, sir."

Sheppard chuckled at Dale's immense unit pride. "Rock Apes?"

"Nickname, sir. One others use as an insult, but we use for different reasons."

Sheppard nodded, and led Dale into the briefing room.

* * *

Wacca, Miki Yamoto, Squadron Leader Dale, Sheppard, as US marine Captain, Ronon, Teyla, Jennifer Hailey, MacKay and Woolsey sat in the briefing room. Captain Graham Stewart leaned against the door; _Lorcan_ was re-supplying, so he had dropped in to see what was new.

The young British researcher, Nicola Howatt, was standing talking, with diagrams to boot.

"So, between the major and I, and the information that Doctor Jackson has been sending us, we can figure out these facts," Nicola pointed to a list.

"1) The Nephilim could be older than the Ancients. A lot of the background we have suggests that the 'War in Heaven' took place before the Ancients and the Ori could even travel beyond their homeworld.

2) the Nephilim no longer have the majority of a race. From what we could tell, the only ones to survive the war were Warriors, Nobles and some who appear to be known as the 'True Fallen', however, it also translates as 'Cursed Ones'." she paused, making sure everyone was keeping pace with her.

"Continue," Woolsey said.

"Well, that brings me onto the third thing. 3)The Nephilim have castes." At this, Nicola pointed at the different photos that Wacca's team had taken, and the crude drawings they had photographed from many ruins.

"The original 'civilian' caste, were the least powerful. They were smaller in stature, their wings were often grey or black, not white, and they lacked the electrical powers their superiors display. They were still far stronger than a human, but in Nephilim terms, they were fairly weak.

"The next caste would be Warriors. They were the strongest, fastest Nephilim who didn't have powers. They could not project lightning, hence the great glaives they carry. They wear masks and have grey wings," Nicola pointed to the picture of one of these beasts as it flew towards the person taking the shot.

"It was one of those that Major Rai killed," Sheppard stated. Nicola nodded to him, smiling coyly as Sheppard did his 'Kirk' thing with the pretty researcher.

"That's right, colonel. From here, we have Nobles. They possess fierce lightning powers, have limited telekinetic powers and appear to command the respect of all others. Their wings are almost pure white. As a sort of off-shoot, we have the 'Seekers'. These were ancient Nephilim, who possessed no offensive powers like the Nobles do, but who had amazing psychic abilities. It was said they could find any enemy, anywhere, no matter how far away they lay,"

"Now that's just silly. Psychic powers? Even the Ancients can't see everything," McKay laughed. Sheppard glared, holding up a lime. McKay fell silent, genuine fear on his face. Chuckles went through the room. All the while, Woolsey was desperately scribbling note.

"These seekers would have an almost symbiotic relationship with one Nephilim noble they each chose from a young age. This symbiosis was possible through mental connection, not physical possession." Nicola said, pointing to the picture of an ancient wall-drawing.

"Sounds like the bugger we saw them wake only today," Wacca growled.

"Could they use their powers to find us here?" Jen Hailey asked quietly. It was a damned good question.

"I really can't say, sir. I do hope not, but anything is possible. Now, finally, we have the last Caste, these 'True Fallen'. It was hard to find any reference to them, and in fact we found nothing here in Pegasus. It was only through information Daniel found in the Milky Way that we know about them."

The room fell silent for a moment, waiting for Nicola to continue. It took Stewart's bluntness to get her going again.

"Well?"

"Oh, right. They seem to be some of the most physically powerful, largest and meanest Nephilim there are," she began.

"Meanest? That doesn't sound very scientific," McKay muttered. Sheppard kept his eyes on Nicola's presentation, but held up the lime again. McKay, again, fell silent, this time with a scowl.

"Thank you, Doctor McKay. Yes, the meanest. They don't seem to have any psychic or electrical powers, but there is something else they possess. Nothing we have tells us what this may be. All we know is the other Nephilim castes both look down on, and fear, the True Fallen. They are twisted and hateful in the extreme. We should probably be the most afraid of them, _if_ they do exist. And evidence is beginning to point that way. There is one, Balor, who appears to be the 'Lord of Death' in Celtic lore. I believe that is the Nephilim that Warrant Officer Spencer saw awaken several weeks ago."

"I thought they were Hebrew?" Woolsey asked, looking up.

"Yes, sir, so we thought. We don't understand the celtic link ourselves. Yet." She replied, a little off storke at the interruption.

"What is the last point?" Ronon grunted, looking at the list.

"At least this is something we have confirmed, not just theorised over. 4)The Nephilim did create the Wraith, by introducing the Ancients to the Iratus bug."

A murmur went round the room. Everyone seemed unsettled now.

"Okay, thank you Doctor Howatt," Woolsey said, shuffling his papers together. "You all have my new plan of action in front of you, and you have heard the Doctors opinions. If you could all take the time to read and evaluate my suggestions, we will have another session tomorrow at the same time."

Before Woolsey could say any more, the comm went off and Chuck's voice penetrated all their thoughts.

"Sir, we have a problem. _Frasier_ has just dropped out of hyperspace,"

"Yes?" Woolsey asked, anxious.

"She engaged a Nephilim ship, like the one Wacca described. She's torn up. They need to beam down casualties,"

The officers were all on their feet, Stewart demanding an instant beam out to the _Lorcan_.

"Give them permission right away! Have them land on one of the piers!" Woolsey said.

"Is there anything I can do?" Dale asked Sheppard.

"Get you men to the third pier. We may need damage control." Sheppard said. Ronon was already beside the colonel, his face a mask of anger and poorly concealed worry. They all ran from the room, leaving a flustered and worried Doctor Howatt trying to tidy up her presentation.

* * *

_Frasier_ came through the clouds towards the city, closely followed by the _Lorcan_, who Stewart was using to beam injured crew to his own infirmary and ease the strain on Keller. _Lorcan_ was also poised to sail into _Frasier_ and nudge her away if it seemed power would completely fail and she would hit the city. The latter was not something Stewart wanted to do. Ever.

Slowly, ponderously, the 340 landed on the designated pier.

She was in a bad state. There were fires on several decks, and in places great swathes of hull armour had been torn away.

One of the fighter bays had lost part of its ceiling, and smoke plumed from the ship.

All around the base of the ship, soldiers in various uniforms gathered, dozens of fire extinguishers held between them.

The first hatches opened, and smoke blackened crew staggered out. RAFR, ADF, US personnel and even the few remaining SRR operatives dove into the ship, going to save as many crew as possible.

Damage control teams swarmed the ship.

"How is it looking?" Woolsey asked from Sheppard's side. The colonel glanced at Woolsey with his 'what the Hell' look, but said nothing provocative.

"Bad. We have gotten the last few of the crew out. Apparently, it's only the last few command staff, and the combat compliment that need to get off," Sheppard replied. He was already covered in soot, having carried three crewmen from the vehicle.

The Australian personnel had taken charge of the rescue operation; it was, after all, their ship and so a family matter.

A RAFR and an ADF soldier came out carrying a young man in AUSCAM, with bad burns down the side of his face.

Behind them, Wacca strode from the ship with a small female figure over his shoulder, thudding his back. A group of AUSCAM dressed soldiers followed, with weapons and packs, looking for all the world like they hadn't just left a burning ship.

Wacca marched over and put Sarah Connolly back on her feet.

"Warrant officer, I swear I will have you on a charge so fast…." She was saying in frustration.

"She wouldn't leave the bridge till everyone was out, sir," Wacca said to Sheppard. "But it was on fire so I thought getting the ship's commander out alive was of greater importance." He said with a grin.

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Sheppard replied. Connolly smiled slightly.

"Maybe. It was getting a little hot in there,"

"What happened, captain?" Woolsey asked, imposing some sense to the conversation.

"We were jumped by a Wraith cruiser. But this one was different. It was no longer that sort of purple colour we're used to. It was almost obsidian black, and it had wings folded on its dorsal area." Connolly said.

"Wings?" Sheppard asked, disbelieving.

"Yes, colonel, they seemed to have been formed to look like bird wings or something. When the ship approached, they opened out and blue lightning came from them, instead of the normal Wraith blasts."

"Lightning. In space?" Sheppard asked.

Connolly sighed. "Look, I don't need to convince you, I saved the logs and sensor reading to show you. Just listen," she chastised. Sheppard opened his hands in an apologetic way. "Anyway, these beams-of-whatever took our shields down really quickly, and then started slicing up our hull. When we fired our APBWs, they seemed to just dissipate across the enemy's hull. Only our railguns had a serious effect on it. It was almost like watching glass break wherever the Railgun slugs hit," Connolly trailed off.

"That's okay for the moment, captain. Save the rest for the debriefing. Go and see Keller then see to your crew," Woolsey ordered her.

"I'm fine, sir…" she began to reply.

"Look, I don't know much, but I do know that smoke inhalation can be deadly even after you've escaped. Go and see Keller," Woolsey ordered. Connolly nodded, knowing he was right.

"Oh no…" Sheppard said, looking past them to see a problem.

Now that all the injured were evacuated, most of the regular military were dispersing back into the city. But only a few dozen metres away, two groups were squaring off.

On one side, the seven remaining SRR with the senior SAS NCO, Sergeant Baker, who had been with Dempsey. On the other, a group of twelve AUSCAM garbed soldiers, all looking very tough and as if they knew how to handle themselves. They were the group who had strolled from the damaged vessel with all their gear intact.

"Wait…what?" Sheppard began. Like the British NCO, they also had the 'Who Dares, Wins' cap badge; the only difference was the Australian soldiers had brass metal badges, and the Brit a fabric one.

Wacca laughed. "Don't worry, sir, they're just sizing each other up. There won't be any trouble," the Warrant Officer said, leading the USAF colonel over.

Just as the two men approached, Sergeant Matheson SRR held out his hand and shook with the lead NCO of the Australian team, an Aboriginal who looked like he could take on the Wraith species all by himself. Baker then mirrored the action with the SASR soldier.

Sheppard could feel relief flood through him.

"It's my pleasure, sir, to introduce Sergeant Boondah of 1SASR, and his team." Wacca said, grinning broadly.

The Australian all nodded politely to Sheppard, who smiled back. "More SAS?" he asked, trying not to sound too distressed.

"Here to deal help with recon and Counter-strikes against the Nephilim, sir. And probably more useful than them Limeys blokes, " Boondah gestured at Baker, who just lifted an eyebrow.

"Why where you on the _Frasier_, and not come through the gate?" Sheppard asked, still a little confused.

"_Frasier_ was coming out here anyway, and some of the blokes needed a little more Space training time, a few gate trips, so we did those on the way here," the Sergeant replied. "Don't worry, sir, nothing clandestine going on."

Sheppard nodded, imitating a smile. Did the SGC really know that Atlantis was becoming a home to the Commonwealth's SFs?

"Hey, Wacca, I heard some rumours from the Admiral that you been running with some CDT's and even some SBS out here. Navy got its claws into you, mate?" one of the other SASR lads called over. Boondah laughed aloud.

"You know the WO has always wanted to be a swabbie, really,"

"Sergeant, I don't want to have to throw you off this pier," Wacca laughed back. The British and Aussie SFs were mixing and chatting now, heading back towards the city. Sheppard watched the banter flow, and listen to the gibes at Wacca's working with other SF groups. The colonel shook his head, and followed them back to the city as more damage control teams headed to the _Frasier_.

* * *

"Four dead, twelve injured and the _Frasier_ will be out of it for at least a month. Longer if we try and send her home," Connolly reported.

"We have plenty of repair materials in our holds. We can make a start whilst we wait for the Victory to arrive," Stewart offered. "My crew and materials will be ready for you whenever you need them," he said.

Connolly nodded, pleasantly surprised. She hadn't anticipated any help for the Brits.

"We can accommodate the crew for long enough," Woolsey said. "We have enough supplied to go around."

"How long until the Victory and Daedalus arrive?" Sheppard asked reading from a datapad.

"About two weeks," Connolly replied.

"So all we have here is the _Lorcan_?" Woolsey asked in worry. "Can she protect us from the Nephilim?"

Stewart looked Connolly, looked down at his datapad before looking at Woolsey.

"Probably not, sir."

"We are in a very bad situation right now. How can we possibly hold off these odds with only one ship?"

"There is one positive, sir," Connolly said. "We know that the railguns seemed to have a better impact on the Nephilim cruiser. The _Lorcan_ has a large compliment of railguns, due to her scarcity of APBWs."

That seemed to calm Woolsey a little.

"Okay, good. Doctor McKay, I would like you to analyse the some of the damage to the Frasier and see what you can come up with. Colonel Sheppard, I want more patrols, at least two teams on each patrol." Woolsey said, giving out his orders. "Warrant Officer Spencer, could you arrange for some recon patrols between the Commonwealth special forces?"

"No problem, sir. Boondah and his team are the best scouts I've ever met; the sergeant could find a needle in a stack of needles,"

"Very good. Right, let's be about it, people," Woolsey tried to inject some enthusiasm into his voice.

* * *

"We battled one of the human ships, mistress. It was a short fight, and the enemy craft fled into hyperspace," Lerate reported to Timrek.

Timrek nodded slowly. It seemed the human ships would prove little fight.

"Did your cruiser sustain much damage?" she asked Lerate.

"We took some hits from their energy weapons, and like Creidhne predicted, they dissipated across the hull. It was their simple projectile weapons that caused most damage,"

"Anything too hazardous?"

Lerate seemed to squirm at answer, before saying. "If they use them enough, in greater numbers, they could even destroy us. But we should be able to cause more than enough damage before they can" he finished.

Timrek nodded. "Good, very good. I shall inform the Bale King, to keep him happy that he is in the loop. And we have Uaithne now. Only a few more until we are ready to launch war across the Galaxies again!"


	9. Chapter 9

**In this chapter, I felt a desperate urge to change some names to fit in better with the Nephilim's theme. Not very good writers etiquette, but hey, my story, so suck it up. :) In all serisouness, when you find out the meanings of the names, you will see why they are better. So as there is no confusion,**

**Gebiar the Seeker becomes Uaithne the seeker, Chastiol becomes Cerridwen and Jocyel, the Librarian/Armour becomes Creidhne. Sorry if I cause a few "erm...?" moments. **

"Got eight coming along to the Eastern flank, Red-one, advise,"

"We see them, three. Twelve more to the north East. We have an almost perfect defilade. Wait for two and four to report in, then we go,"

"We got you, one,"

The radio chatter flew back and forth, a mix of Australian, American and British accents. Three groups of Wraith were walking through the rocky, dusty terrain that reminded every human there a little too much of Afghanistan. (Though sergeant Matheson did remark it make a change from fecking trees,)

"We have one of the big...shit, no, make that two of the flying nasties," one comm message went off.

"We hear you, Red two. Four, confirm?"

"We confirm, One,"

Wacca shook his head then looked at the rest of red One; they were SASR. Red two and five were also SASR, Boondah leading Two. Red three was Matheson's SRR, and four was another fireteam of SRR with Baker in command.

"Make sure it's ready," Wacca muttered to the two SRR closest, who were covering something with Desert-cam netting

Wacca edged forward, making sure his desert Bush hat broke up the line of his face.

"Can anyone confirm what type the FN are?" Wacca said. Already, the combined militaries had started coming up with nicknames, then acronyms, for their enemy. The first, 'Flying Nasties', was the tamest, and probably not the last.

"This is Three, I confirm one Crow's Face bugger and another unarmoured. Presumably command figure," the reply was a hushed whisper.

"I hear you. Blue lead, this is Red one, over," Wacca spoke next to Major Dale, commanding twenty-five men, half RAFR, the other USMC, with an assortment of city security from all different countries too.

"Blue lead here. Confirm engage targets?"

"Confirm, on our go. Watch for two FNs, one Warrior one Command,"

"I hear you, WO. Good hunting,"

Wacca listened for the confirmation from his units.

The teams all waited for the three groups of Wraith Drones and their Nephilim commanders to come to the best positions to get ambushed.

Cate and Sydney had been off world scouting again, Woolsey retracting his order for the time being.

the two women had discovered that not only had the Nephilim visited the small villages on that world, they were coming back to claim 'offerings' of villagers. The two spooks had promised to help the villagers if they could tell them when the Nephilim were said to be returning. After arranging to ship the civilians to a secure location, Major Dale and Warrant Officer Wacca had moved in.

Wacca sighted down his G36-Cmd carbine, drawing a bead on a Wraith Drone's forehead.

He whispered into his mic.

"Stand by, stand by"

The three Wraith groups moved into the three killzones.

"Go, go go!"

* * *

Lerate led his Wraith force to the village to claim the people promised to them. They were taking a tithe of half the villagers; for the moment, they could not exhaust their supply of souls. Also, they wanted survivors to flew before them and let other know what was coming for them.

Lerate constantly looked around the dusty gullies and rocky outcrops. Were he any other creature, he could possibly fear this place as a point of ambush

Then again, who would be stupid enough to ambush two Nephilim and a battle force of Wraith?

* * *

5.56mm fire barked from five locations, scything down a dozen Wraith. Several riflemen, tasked with ensuring the Wraith were dead, fired at the prone forms.

The rest of the Wraith Drones charged forward along the gully; they outnumbered Wacca's Special Forces by two to one, and still had two Nephilim.

The charging mass of Drones came into a open area with plenty of space to move.

A moment later, claymore's went off, mowing down the front rank. This was followed by the combined RAFR/USMC company, who fired tight, accurate bursts into the milling enemy. A few unlucky Marines and Aircraftmen went down to stun bursts, but with the GMPG and Minim support weapons, the Human's were having the best of the engagement.

* * *

"Regroup! Attack! Attack!" Lerate bellowed. beside him, the Warrior milled too, unsure where to attack. "To the air! Fly at one of the groups of humans!" Lerate berated.

The Warrior took wing, and flew to a height where he could see what was going on.

A group of humans were firing into the Wraith Drones; one of them saw him, and pointed.

Beneath his mask, the Warrior snarled with anticipation of these easy kills. With a roar, he dove down towards them.

* * *

"Get that thing ready. Now." Wacca said through gritted teeth.

The Nephilim roared and dove towards them.

Two of the SASR tore the camo netting away and pulled the Javelin into place. It was already pre'ped for direct fire, and was ready to go. One NCO aimed the weapon and pull the firing trigger.

The Nephilim Warrior's entire torso disappeared in a puff of pink-purple blood. One shot, damned lucky, but direct hit.

"Whoo-hoo!" the Aussie screamed. A Raven-mask clattered to the dusty ground next to his feet.

"All units, concentrate on the Drones!" Wacca radioed.

"Oh yeah? What about this bugger stalking towards us?" Dale's voice came back. He had the tall, lithe form of the noble heading for his position.

* * *

Lerate bellowed in anger at the sight of his subordinate reduced to body parts. He held out his right hand and unleashed a bolt into a group of human soldiers.

Two men went down, Kevlar melted right through, the energy killing them quickly. The horrible smell of burnt flesh filled the air.

The Wraith Drones were almost done for. The few survivors did the unthinkable; they turned and ran. The RAFR and USMC had broken them.

But now, Lerate was reciprocating. The Nephilim lesser-noble was hovering about twenty-feet off the ground, spearing blue-lightning into the Allied soldiers, who were sticking behind cover, firing back as best they could.

Lerate laughed as he killed; a Marine here, an Aircraftman there. The Nephilim was talking wounds from the support weapons, a dozen slowly bleeding holes in his lithe, pale form.

* * *

The SFs tried to join the fight, but now Lerate was whipping blue lighting across the rocks, keeping everyone ducking for fear of being hit.

An Aussie SASR took a hit to the rifle shoulder, spinning him round and throwing him to the ground. The man cursed, then swapped his rifle to his weaker side and fired on.

* * *

Boondah sat with his back against a big rock, high up on an outcrop. His sniper rifle was sitting on it's bipod on another rock. It was an unusual position, but a surprisingly stable one.

Boondah was using an Aw50F - not his normal choice, due to how damned heavy it was, but the calibre was needed for the enemy he was facing

The range was low, only about 600 yards, but there was a bit of a wind.

In his sight, Boondah could see the Nephilim's short, dark hair. He corrected for angle, wind and trajectory.

Boondah held his breath for a second, then slowly, gently exhaled.

As he finished his breath, he squeezed the trigger.

* * *

Lerate blasted more energy from his finger tips, when his head jerked to the side with bone splintering force. a moment later, a loud boom echoed around the terrain.

Lerate sank slowly to the ground, a stunned look on his face, blood seeping down the side of his head.

* * *

Wacca stared in amazement. There was a massive groove through the back of the Nephilim's head; an injury that would have killed any human outright.

The Nephilim stayed on its feet, a look of disbelief etched across it's cruel face. Still, it fired off bolts of electricity, only weaker and wilder than before.

"Again, Steve, hit it again," Wacca whispered.

Boondah stared down his scope in disbelief. His round hadn't hit perfectly, but he didn't think it would. Still, the wound should have killed the creature outright.

He re-sighted quickly, lowering the aim a little.

The Nephilim turned, searching for its assailant.

The creature looked up, and seemed to catch Boondah's eye for a moment. The Sergeant exhaled again, and squeezed once.

Lerate's brain exploded out the back of his skull. The Nephilim didn't survive that. The lithe figure flopped unceremoniously to the ground in a pile of feathers and blood.

* * *

"Move in!" Wacca ordered. "Keep frosty, but move in. Police the bodies. Someone gate Atlantis, and get us something to carry this body out on. I get the feeling the boffs will want to see it."

The troopers moved in. They sadly collected the dead, two Brits and three Americans, and helped the twelve wounded and stunned men.

The Australian SASR lads stalked through the corpses, grabbing wraith stunners for their own uses later, grabbing ornaments and trophies.

They gathered around the dead Nephilim, staring intently, until one of the Special Forces soldiers couldn't help himself.

"Not so pretty now, mate,"

They burst into laughter, and went to help the PBI with the sadder duties.

Wacca supervised, and Dale organised weapon collection and congratulated the SFs and his own men. The Warrant officer turned round at a cough and saw Boondah standing with his rifle over his shoulder, and the biggest, ready smile. "I think I got 'im mate,"

Wacca grinned back. "I think you did, sergeant. I think you did."

And Wacca laughed suddenly, despite the dead heroes being collected behind him, because not only had they beaten the Nephilim, his Aussies had killed two of the big buggers.

"Brilliant," he muttered.

* * *

"Are you serious?" Sheppard looked sceptically at Keller.

The doctor, sick of hearing the same question over the course of the last two hours, held back the thick flap of Nephilim skin, making the colonel flinch.

"Okay, you're right. No digestive system, no redundant organs..." Sheppard muttered.

"Do you even know what you're talking about?" Sqd Ld Dale asked.

"No," Sheppard admitted.

The officers thanked Keller and left. She had been able to tell them very little more than they already knew, on first autopsy; capable of withstanding great pain, taking severe injury and, with few vital organs, could go around gut shot and barely care.

"How do they eat?" Wacca muttered from beside the officers.

"They don't, that's the point," Sheppard muttered.

"They do something like the Wraith then?" Wacca asked again, still perturbed by the strange alien genealogy.

"Something like..." Sheppard began, loud voices cutting through the conversation.

The men rounded a corner. A group of Sailors from the Lorcan were squaring up to a band of USMC and USN. Men were pushing and shoving, insulting each other, making threats. Many comments along the lines of "Damned Limeys should go home," and "We don't need you anyway," came at the Brits, who responded in less than kind terms.

"Stand down, now!" Sheppard barked.

The men ignored the colonel at first, their anger blinding them.

"You heard the colonel! Now!" Wacca roared.

The corridor went silent.

"What the Hell was this all about?" Wacca shouted at them.

"I can guess," Sheppard said. "Forget it Warrant. Get yourselves out of my sight; Brits to your area, Marines, to your own. And go different ways, or I'll ship you straight back to Earth,"

The aggressors backed off, muttering. Some uttered officer-related insults under their breath, but none persisted.

"That been happening a lot?" Dale asked quietly when the men were out of earshot.

Sheppard nodded sadly.

"Yes, now. It started off pretty bad. Even some senior officers were having a go at each other. The ships' companies are the worst when they're ashore, but the city defenders are getting bad. It took Admiral MacGregor, and Major Macara, believe it or not, to bring everyone together. Either one of them right now would be a blessing. But MacGregor is away purging the Lucian's, and Macara is back on Earth."

Dale shook his head. "It's a damned shame, not being able to work together,"

"It was good until Macara left, then Sam left, and Woolsey took over. Your Captain Stewart, and Major Gaje Rai, tried their best to keep the Brits in line, and Wacca here, with his officers, did the same of the Aussies but there is just too much enmity. It's all to do with the politics."

"And we can't put up with it any more. It's tearing the place apart, and we need clear heads to fight these bloody Nephilim," Wacca put in.

Dale contemplated for a moment. "I'll do my best to keep my men in order, sir."

Sheppard looked at the honest face.

"Thank you, squadron leader." Sheppard replied. He and Wacca stopped a moment, and watched Dale walk away.

"I wish they were all like him,"

"Well, you're in for a fright, sir. The IOA has authorised a large task force to come through from Earth to quell the Nephilim threat. We have an extra three hundred men coming through." Wacca said, holding the data slate he had brought to the infirmary to let Sheppard see.

"A Rifle company of US infantry, and two companies of Grenadier Guards, with a rag tag of machine gunners, POGs and two new Lieutenant Colonels," Wacca raised an eye brow.

"Who?" Sheppard winced.

"An American army colonel by the name of Bryant, and a Grenadier colonel by the name of Hamilton," Wacca replied.

"What? Under the tenants of the Gate Treaty, the Brits were never to have an officer higher than major commanding troops in Atlantis. Stewart is different, because he is a ship's captain, but the CO was never allowed to have battalion command rank," Sheppard ranted.

"Sorry sir, it's the news I received,"

Sheppard swore violently, and stormed away to draft another letter of complaint.

Anne Macgregor walked through the puddle of the blue event horizon, strangely she had only done this twice before on the Gamma training site. She took a deep breath, hitched up her backpack and clung tightly to the large blue sea bag she carried, and stepped in.

"Off world activation." Chuck called out from his usual chair, as the Gate burst into life.

"Any IDC?" Woolsey asked, standing on the middle stair of those leading up to the control section.

"Yes it's the SGC, one Traveller."

"Open the iris then." Woolsey then turned and went back down and walked toward the incoming platform. Sheppard and Wacca were there almost at the same time and stood beside the older man.

"Any idea who it is?" John asked.

"None at all Colonel, though it's not the additional troops, they're not due for another day.

They stood there together as a lone figure came out of the blue disk, wearing the summer day uniform of an Australian Naval Captain, though with the red piping between the gold bands. Wacca immediately beamed a smile, his boss's wife no less. "Oh Christ" He thought. "The mother of our spook, shit this is gonna be difficult, with the girl haring off after Nephilim." He tried to make his face look calm.

* * *

The small fleet had separated some twelve hours ago, _Victory_ and her two escorts headed for Pegasus and the_ Dreadnaught_ with MacGregor and SG1 aboard went in search of one of three known Lucian homeworlds. Colonel Abe Ellis now commanding held the bridge as they burst out of hyperspace above the first planet on their list PXV470, they could see from this far above, that the major cities on the largest continent were in trouble, not that any of them aboard really cared but it just added to the puzzle. The dark plumes of smoke and ruin reached kilometers into the atmoshpere. Teal'c looked down from the _Dread'_s main window, his face a frown.

"Admiral, Colonel Ellis, I believe this matter needs investigating." He did not even arch his eyebrow, which to Cam meant really serious business.

"I'm with Teal'c sir, there is something very weird going on, who would have the ability to do this more so why. I mean these guys are sleeping with the really bad guys, so the question needs to be asked, how and why?"

"I have to agree Admiral, this doesn't make sense." Daniel said as he joined Teal'c by the large opening.

Ellis got out of his seat and stood near the others looking down, then turned to MacGregor who was pondering something from his 'Admiral's' chair. He to stepped down, but did not join the others. Instead he headed toward the nearest elevator and turned before the door opened. "I think we need to go down and see for ourselves, Mitchell let's get a 401 ready."

Daniel sat in his quarters aboard _Victory_ reading through ancient scrolls, and newer historical volumes, whilst Ellis assembled his landing team.

So far, he had discovered a lot more about Lorcan than he had already surmised. All very interesting, but nothing that could really help. Daniel now knew how Lorcan had become an enemy and icon against the Nephilim.

In the Hebrew texts he had found, it said the Nephilim had come to Earth twice, one time being defeated by God and his Angels, but held no account of the other. This was where the scrolls had come in.

Daniel had found these very difficult to read, mainly because they were not only in early Scots Gaelic, but also Pritennic. Also, in those days very little was written down; everything was passed by word of mouth. As such, the syntax was crude, the sentence structure like that of a child.

The Nephilim had visited Earth in between their two mentions in ancient Hebrew. And it seemed their names became the names of many Celtic deities, just as with the Ancients and Goa'uld. Names such as the Dagda, Tethra, Luhg, Morrigan, Balor, Cethnell, so on and so on. So, whilst the Hebrews knew of these beast, and some had even been named by them, it was the primitive Celts who had learned of their identities and used them as their own religion.

In the end, Jackson discovered that Lorcan had united a large army of Celts; Picts, Dal Raida Scots, Strath Clota Welsh, Lothians, Selgovae and had fought off an attack of these beasts. They had won, barely, through two factors; the Nephilim loved close quarter combat, and the Celts had outnumbered the Nephilim by thirty two to one.

After the victory, the one hundred and four survivors burned the bodies and took a dying Lorcan to his home. On the way, though, sixty seven Christian Warriors in his force stole him away, taking the body and all written records to Rome.

Rome was only just becoming the centre of Christendom, and they sent the party onward to the Holyland.

Eventually, Lorcan was laid to rest in Jerusalem, and the Sixty-seven made a covenant to protect him and stop any word of the Nephilim and Anakim from getting out, lest they attract the unwanted attentions of the beings'.

Daniel blinked for a moment.

Anakim? All he knew was it translated directly as 'long necked ones'. Could they be the 'true Angels?'

Daniel read on, desperate to find more information.

His door comm chimed.

"Yes, Vala," he muttered, still reading.

Vala walked in, surprised.

"How did you..."

"Well, I've had peace for the better part of two hours. It was only a matter of time until you came by to ruin it." Daniel replied, closing the old book and opening another. He looked up at Vala, sucking his teeth the way he always did when he was annoyed.

Vala sat, clicking her tongue.

"Shut. Up." Daniel muttered.

"Your no fun." Vala moaned. "They're all getting ready for a mission, and no one will talk to meee..."

"Be quiet already," Daniel hissed, trying to read.

Vala moved some ancient books with her fingers, until one fell of the desk and the deck. Daniel raced over.

"Be careful, these are..." he stopped mid sentence.

"What?" Vala asked, biting her lip. Something had caught his eye on the page the book had landed on.

"I've got it! The location of four Nephilim in the MW! This is brilliant! I have to show the admiral!" Daniel said. He kissed Vala in the forehead, and ran from the room.


	10. Chapter 10

Timrek threw the Wraith Drone across the room, the Wraith hitting the far wall with a sickening *crunch*.

"Two of our number gone, just like that!" she screamed, blasting blue lightning into a trio of Wraith crewing the Cruiser. The Wraith officers died in wracks of agony.

Timrek had just received the news from the surviving Drones that both Lerate and the Warrior she sent with him were dead. Killed by the humans and their stupid, barbaric ballistic weapons!

Timrek screamed again. Now, several months after awakening, she had assembled six Warriors, Lerate, Creidhne, Uaithne and Cerridwen, with their two body guards, Mertaine the Silent One, and of course, Lord Balor. She was in the process of waking the last four Nephilim in this galaxy, and already Timrek had lost two Warriors and her personal commander and 'strongman'.

"Mistress, we must awaken the others before we take any more losses," Creidhne said calmly.

"No! We must take some revenge! We must slaughter the first humans we find!" she cried back.

"We cannot. We need them, and their souls." Creidhne tried to make her see reason.

"I will not be calmed until we have slaughtered humans in vengeance!" Timrek roared defiance.

Creidhne thought for a moment. "The humans we fight, mistress, are not from here. They are from the galaxy the Ancient fled to. If we were to find some of them, destroy one of their bases, maybe, we could avoid destroying the souls of any 'civilian' humans in this galaxy," Timrek stopped her rage for a moment, the anger draining, returning to simply cold hatred.

"Yes, this plan is acceptable. Bring Uaithne, we must seek some out. And when we find them, we will leave none alive," she snarled.

From the back of the darkened room, a low, terrifying chuckled sounded, booming through the corridors of the ship.

Timrek turned to look at the laughing figure; Balor.

"It is time to have some fun," the Fallen said with unbridled, purely evil, glee.

* * *

Wacca sat in the communal mess, where Atlantis staff, security, USMC and ADF all intermingled. The Warrant officer was distressed to see that none of the UK military personnel were here, all of them preferring their own mess. And, despite Commander Stewart and Sqn Ldr Dale trying to keep the peace, they couldn't force their men and women to spend off-duty time with the Atlantis staff.

Wacca shrugged; it may be one of the problems his position left him to deal with, but it was lunch time, and he didn't care. He sat with several random staff, and Boondah from the SASR.

"So, where is the captain?" Wacca asked of Boondah's CO. The sergeant smiled in response.

"We were all debriefed as to our role here, whilst in the field, so that they could requisition our service without too many questions being asked about where a prime SASR platoon had disappeared to," Boondah replied, sipping form his cup. Wacca balanced his chin on his arms, which in turn were leaning on the table.

"Good to see the ADF can pull off their normal sneaky BS," he grinned.

"Too right. Well, we were on one last patrol before being beamed out by_ Frasier_. Stupid bugger let a Tali shoot him in the thigh!" Boondah laughed out loud.

"Is he all right?" Wacca asked in genuine concern. He had served under the captain, and knew how experienced and skilled the man was.

"Yeah, the lucky sod got shipped home. Got a chance to see his wife and kids, too. We headed out here anyway. You never know, he may join us at some point,"

"That would be good," Wacca said honestly.

Wacca stopped talking as he noticed three recently off-duty RAFR, or 'Rock Apes', walking towards the servery in the mess, rifles slung, magazine's removed. That was a good sign, that they were willing to mix.

However, before they got much further, an RAFR corporal approached them, spoke in hushed tones, gestured towards the door, and then stormed away. The three other Rock Apes looked at each other, murmured a few times, and then left too.

"Damn it," Wacca said, before cursing foully.

"Those damn Pommes at it again, boss?" Boondah asked.

"Yeah, they just don't seem to want to integrate, damn their eyes," Wacca muttered. "They were doing fine when Macara was here, and Rai, God rest him, was pretty good at keeping them in line, too. But over the last few months, since the major left, they've gotten out of hand again. Stewart cracks down on any violence, and sorts out the problem ruthlessly. But he only deals with the symptoms, not the cause. And it doesn't help that he feels the same way as his men," Wacca said.

"He encourages them?" Boondah asked, surprised.

"Of course he doesn't, but rank and file can always tell when an officer isn't pleased, no matter how he tries to cover it up."

"Security chief and Senior WO to the gateroom, please," the tannoy went off.

"Damn. Well, that's me. See you later Steve," Wacca said, picking up his mug and heading for a transporter.

"See you WO," Boondah laughed, taking Wacca's half eaten lunch and placing it on his own tray.

* * *

"Find them, Uaithne," Timrek hissed.

"Of course, mistress," the ancient creature wheezed a reply. He turned to Cerridwen, and sent a mind pulse to her.

The lithe, hauntingly beautiful alien started to stiffen up, her black eyes rolling back in their sockets. She started to float, slightly, even though her wings were folded.

Uaithne chanted, and place a hand flat just below her throat, and his own eyes began to flicker, eyelids opening and shutting hundreds of times a second.

Slowly, Cerridwen's mind started to cross the vast gulf of space.

* * *

Lorelle stopped treating the injured scientist as Anne entered the infirmary. Lorelle hadn't quite gotten used to the military medic. She was a nice enough woman, but in her few days here, she had shown her military side, too. Strict, by the book when it came to giving the best care for her patients. She had questioned Lorelle's use of Pegasus herbs, until Keller had backed her up and said how well they worked. There was a also a report from Beckett, off on his wanderings around Pegasus, that said how skilled she was. That one had also asked if Lorelle would go and help him.

"Afternoon, Lorelle," Anne said. Lorelle nodded a pleasant greeting.

"How's the patient?" she asked, not meaning the scientist.

"She's fine, Captain MacGregor. The ankle is still a little swollen, but the celadin herb is working well," Lorelle replied.

"Good, good," Anne said, walking by Lorelle to a bed a few spaces down.

Cate sat there, reading a book, and put it down as she noticed her mum walking over.

"Hey, mum! I heard you had arrived when the medic brought me in last night,"

Anne frowned. "Yes, I heard. Snooping on some Wraith, and then you were spotted."

"I only twisted my ankle with a fall. The SASR guys owned the Wraith Drones," Cate sighed. It was always the same with her mum; always worried about her 'little girl'

"It could have been much worse! And you've been chasing after Nephilim!" Anne said, sitting on the bed. She gently took the ankle from its fabric brace and checked the swelling. After only thirteen hours, it was going down. Lorelle had some skill, it seemed. "Sorry about not coming to see you sooner, but no one told me until breakfast this morning, and I had orientation to do," Anne said.

"It's fine mum, I think I can survive you not running to my bedside right away. I am an ASIS agent, after all,"

Anne sighed and replaced the bracing.

"I just wish you put yourself in quite so dangerous a position," Anne sighed.

Cate chuckled slightly, before reaching forward and hugging her mother.

"Love you mum,"

Cerridwens eyes rolled back, and she collapsed to the deck.

* * *

Uaithne turned to Timrek.

"I have found them, a base with many." he said.

"Where?" Timrek asked in reply.

Uaithne looked at a Drone and sent a mind-pulse

"I have given your helmsman the location,"

Timrek nodded. "Good. Take us there. Immediately,"

* * *

Wacca arrived just after Yamato did.

"What is it?" he said wearily.

"Sheppard wanted you here for the arrival of the Grenadier Guards,"

"Oh, yeah, that. More Pommes causing more problems," he cursed.

"You know, Spencer, you're getting as bad as them," Miki said lightly.

"What?"

"Well, you keep moaning about them, and you've started doing it to subordinates. Your opinions hold a lot of sway here, as everyone pretty much likes you and listens to you. So your complaining isn't helping," she said tactfully.

Wacca was about to reply when he realised she was right. He just nodded.

The US rifle company came through first, some of the Marines in the gateroom making comments about the Army soldiers. These were met with semi-friendly banter. Insults rang out, including things like

"Army – Ain't Ready For Marines Yet" and "Marines, My Ass Rides In Naval Equipment,"

Some City security took the Captain and his men to their quarters.

Next came the Grenadier Guards. They marched through, four abreast, in perfect order. Wacca had to admit, despite the ridiculousness of the pomp, it was impressive to see men come out of the event horizon in formation and order. The soldier in him was proud of the martial ardour that seeped from the tall, impressive men in desert DPMs.

"I was half expecting them to come through in red coats and bearskins," one Canadian City security man muttered.

Wacca smiled at that. Despite knowing full well they wouldn't, he had had wondered if they would, too.

The two companies, No. 2 and No.7 Companies respectively, formed up and came to attention as their colonel approached Sheppard and Woolsey.

"Shit," Wacca breathed. He could see the medal bars on the colonel's chest, and he could see the man was clearly in his late forties. There was no way his commission was junior to Sheppard's.

Sheppard saluted the colonel, who paused for a moment before saluting back out of respect, if nothing else.

"Lieutenant Colonel Hamilton. Colonel Sheppard, I presume?"

"Yes, colonel," Sheppard replied. "Good to have you here."

"I've read your reports and complaints, colonel, and I highly doubt you really believe that," Hamilton replied curtly, silencing Sheppard. He completely ignored Woolsey's offer of handshake.

"Well, I…eh…"

"Is there anyone who could escort my men to the British sector, I'd like to get them embedded soon as possible," the colonel's superior tone and high-bred accent embarrassing and annoying even the four Rock Ape's on Gateroom guard duty.

"Yes, of course. These men will escort you," Sheppard pointed to a pair of the Rock Apes, who slung their weapons and gestured for the colonel and his command staff to follow them, 2 and 7 Coy trooping behind them, Sergeant majors shouting.

"Oh, damn, a proper bloody Rupert," Wacca breathed. "This is going to trouble"

* * *

Back in MW...

"You ready Jackson?" Cam asked as he and Vala scooped up another load of papers and scrolls.

"What, er now?" He did at times appear confused.

"I believe Daniel Jackson, we are supposed to be aboard the dropship, some ten minutes ago, Admiral MacGregor is becoming most impatient." Teal'c said with his eyebrow at the attention.

"Yeah, yeah just a minute." He gathered up another pile and handed them to Vala and grabbed his laptop.

"I'm not your baggage girl Danie..." Vala began as the familiar whining sound of the Asgard beam took them to hangar bay parked directly in front of the waiting AC401.

"...l, is that all you think I am?" She finished as they reappeared. And promptly dumped all his stuff at his feet. "He is impatient isn't he, we could have walked." She added indignantly as she straightened her hair for the umpteenth time.

Cam walked over to the hatch of the small ship and caught sight of MacGregor coming their way, he was wearing full tactical gear and carrying a G36K, Cam shook his head, the old guy meant business he thought to himself as he harried his friends. "Move it guys, we're not alone on this one."

The others clambered aboard just as Will reached the door, he shoved Vala in at the last moment, pushing her with his hand on her rear, she turned and grinned at him. "Admiral..."

"Just take your place people." He said as he closed the hatch door, then went up the short steps to the cockpit, two crewmen were already there, the pilot a Royal Navy Lieutenant Liam Jarvis and the Weapons officer USMC Captain Hayley Miller, greeted him with a sharp "Sir", as he took one of the rear seats, Cam joined him in the other.

"What do you think we'll find sir?" He asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine Cam, but whatever it is, I know we won't like it."

"Agreed sir. Jarvis let's get this bird mobile. SG1 buckle up for the Fair Ground Super ride." He said as he turned slightly to see his comrades in the rear. Twenty four fully equipped US Marines and Russian infantry sat slightly behind them. The Russian captain gave the thumbs up the moment Jarvis began his taxi roll. Cam noticed one of the Russian soldiers cross himself. The re-entry of the 401's, into a planet's atmosphere, was not exactly for the faint hearted.

* * *

"I want things done by the book. There will be no more fighting, if I have to get the RSM to personally throw each of you back through the gate!" Hamilton said angrily.

The whole Atlantis GTF group was standing at ease in the UK mess. Two companies of Guardsmen, the half of 104 Squadron and even the SRR had turned out smartly, afraid of the high-born Colonel's wrath.

Not that the colonel actually cared a jot about the Americans. He simply liked discipline amongst his men; they were Guardsmen after all. For all he cared, the Wraith could life suck every one of the friendly-firing idiots.

It was an attitude that had not been received well in Afghanistan by US commanders. Hamilton and most of the Guards Division officers tended to communicate poorly with the Americans. Something to do with the tendency of A10 and F15 pilots to engage British units on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan. It didn't matter to Hamilton that it had been two years since a Brit had died to an American attack. All that mattered to him was that men had died, and his own unit had been attacked. An American Apache had been called in for air support, and fired on his own men, and on the occasion when he had decided to go and check on his sections. A medic had been badly injured. No one had ever explained or apologised.

"I want you to avoid the Americans outside of duty hours. It's bad enough you have to serve with them, but I do not want fraternisation. This does not mean you will be rude or violent towards these personnel; they are soldier too. You will follow orders from your own officers first, and then you will follow orders from you NCO's etc. You will follow City security or US orders when issued, if your own officers have been consulted first. Understand?"

There was a murmur of ascent. Sqn Ld Dale wanted to scream; all Hamilton was doing was helping to breed enmity and a breakdown of co-operation.

"Very well. Dismissed," Hamilton said, sending them on their way.

"Incoming wormhole," Chuck said to Woolsey. The IOA controller beckoned Sheppard over and they waited for a report.

"It's sergeant Nichols, sir, but…something's awry…." Chuck said.

"What?" Sheppard asked before Woolsey could even open his mouth.

"Well, sir, he's stationed at the Alpha site on PK3-831, but this IDC is coming from another world," Chuck replied.

"Let him in."

The shield came down and the sergeant staggered in. His AE uniform was in tatters, and one side was charred. Where skin was visible, it was burnt.

"Medic team to the Gateroom," Woolsey spoke through the tannoy.

Sheppard was down next to the sergeant in a moment.

"Nichols, what happened?" the colonel asked, genuinely worried.

"Alpha site….sir, it's under attack." The sergeant gasped.

"Nephilim?"

"Yes, sir. Major Valenski….ordered me to come back and report in…"

"Why didn't you radio in?" Woolsey asked, appearing at their side. The medical team arrived a moment later, Anne leading Lorelle and a stretcher party.

"Out of the way, this man obviously needs help," she said, feeling not one bit of concern at pushing a colonel and the Expedition leader out of the way. She jabbed the injured sergeant with sedatives before checking the wounds.

"They were…all around us….the major didn't want them to see Atlantis' address, so she sent me….to that other world first," the sergeant croaked before the sedatives kicked in and he slumped into the stretcher. Anne led the party away. "I'll let you know how he is as soon as I can," she told Woolsey.

"Right, let's move!" Sheppard was already barking down his radio. "Assemble a team, we need to relieve the major,"

* * *

The British troops were falling out when the alarm went, which was then followed by an almost garbled request for troops.

Hamilton listened for a moment, before muttering. "Not our concern,"

The call came again, this mentioning the Alpha site.

"Sir, we have a section and two F-302E's at Alpha," Dale pointed out. "Not to mention some British scientists."

Hamilton nodded. "In that case, I suppose it is our concern. Captain Peterson, assemble 2 Coy and move to the gateroom,"

"Yes, sir!" the Captain replied, snapping a smart salute before running to find his sergeant.

Hamilton looked at Dale. "Have a couple of sections stand to, Sqn Ld, fully armed and ready to go. We may need them. Sergeant Matheson, have you section ready too," Hamilton gave his orders. He looked at his DPM's and sighed. "Never got the chance to change. They shipped us to Helmand, then diverted us once the press thought we were joining the battle group. Don't think we'll do too well in a wood, eh?" he said, trying to make light.

"No, sir," Dale said with a rather forced smile.

"Right, assemble in the gate room in ten minutes."


	11. Chapter 11

Sheppard had a team of twenty men, and was surprised to see the Grenadier colonel turn up with a full company.

"Thank you," he said simply. Hamilton acknowledged it with a nod, and checked his rifle. It was against policy for a colonel to go into front line combat, but for all his faults, Hamilton was a veteran soldier and wouldn't send his men into a fight he wasn't willing to risk his neck in.

"Okay, dial the intermediately planet," Sheppard ordered.

The gate flared into life, and Sheppard, with Hamilton at his side, led the men through.

* * *

Timrek howled as she killed. They had not found the main Human base, but this place was enough for now. There were over one hundred present when She and her cruiser arrived.

The Wraith drones had advanced with their stunners, soaking up the human bullets. Then Timrek with two Warriors had set about destroying the encampment, it's technology, and it's owners.

Already, twenty two Drones lay dead, but that didn't bother her; there were plenty more.

She could see forty six humans either dead or stunned, and knew that in two of the prefab huts lay yet more casualties. The attack was going well.

One of the Warrior swooped down on a fleeing Human soldier and swept the figure into the air. The Warrior then proceeded to tear both the humans arm's from their sockets and let the screaming man fall to his death.

One of the humans, a female, was making a stand with a group of about twenty soldiers, with some civilians mixed in. No Drone went near them; none could reach even if they tried.

Even one of Timrek's Warriors had had to move away, as the humans fired desperately but with discipline at the flying monsters.

Timrek flew towards the brave group that was holding out. The slim killer hovered, and began blasting bolts of lightning at them. Still they huddled behind their cover, fighting back despite the brave soldiers who fell at their comrades sides.

A deafening roar filled the glade. From amongst the trees, the brutal, massive form of Balor appeared like a vision from hell.

Balor glared at the defenders, who desperately targeted him with their small arms. Balor's eye turned red, and many of Valenski's group simply fell to their knees crying, some evacuating their bowels, others curling up and quivering.

Balor roared again, and began to charge towards them, his rage total.

The two Warriors took to their wings and got out of Balor's way. Six Wraith not quick enough to were swatted away like gnats, or crushed below Balor.

The Fallen thundered into the packed ranks of Valenski's last stand, and the carnage began.

Timrek screamed with the joy of killing, and watched the last area of desperate defence shatter and begin to flee….

* * *

The gate to Alpha site opened. The large force came through on the tail of several smoke and flash grenades. It seemed that someone had listened to Macara's now well-publicised gate assault practises.

The men spread out and moved straight for the camp.

The sight they met was brutal.

In the distance, a Wraith cruiser, heavily modified, was moving into high orbit. Around the woods and the base itself, gunfire could still be heard, with the occasional Wraith stunner blast.

"Move out!" Hamilton called to his men. "Section groups, move to the sound of gunfire. 1 platoon, stay here and secure the base!" Hamilton called. His Grenadiers moved out quickly and professionally.

Sheppard looked at Hamilton angrily for a moment as the colonel moved forward; he hadn't even discussed the plan.

"You heard the Brit, move in. Sergeant Jeffries, take your team to the sounds of firing on the left. Lieutenant Favre, secure the gate. The rest of you, with me," Sheppard said. Ronon made sure his pistol was on kill, and Teyla double checked her P90.

As the soldiers spread out, the sounds of gunfire became a little louder and more frequent. Several section/squad leaders reported contacts, all Wraith.

The large numbers of Allied soldiers were quickly able to eliminate the remaining Wraith threat, and no bombardment came from orbit, not Darts came sweeping towards them.

Hamilton gathered the forces together, and piquets were set up around the area.

Then they began policing the dead and wounded.

Hamilton's squads brought in several small groups of SG personnel who had gone to ground, or drawn Wraith into the woods away from the base. They managed to assembled fourteen City security and scientists, most uninjured.

From the ruins of the base, they dragged four wounded scientists and two more soldiers.

They had also found fifty four dead, most of them security personnel and US Army. Major Valenski was found amongst a pile of these.

Sheppard shook his head sadly. She was a soldier and had been an invaluable member of the expedition.

How many more would they lose to the Nephilim? Damn the Lucian Alliance for waking them!

Those bodies were all grouped together, with shell casings all around. Dozens of Wraith lay dead around them.

"Last stand," Hamilton muttered dryly.

One of his Guardsmen fell to his knees and threw up; many of Valenski's defenders had been ripped asunder, arms or entire torsos' separated from their bodies.

Sheppard called corpsmen over to bring sheets to cover the worst sights.

Rodney wandered off, white as a sheet, his lunch, that had been so tasty, now lying on the ground. He reeled as if not sure where to go. Ronon directed him to one of the destroyed prefabs.

Valenski was whole, but the woman had a large tear from neck to navel, her Kevlar ripped like paper. Her P90 was empty, and puddles of Nephilim blood lay around her. She hadn't gone down easy.

The soldiers began policing the dead as medical teams with body bags came through the now secure gate. It didn't take long for Hamilton and Sheppard to notice they were light on casualties.

"We're missing forty two soldiers and researchers,"

Hamilton shook his head. "Feeding?"

Sheppard just nodded. It was the most likely explanation.

"What about all the computers?" Sheppard asked suddenly, worried the Nephilim may now know everything.

"They've been erased," Ronon said from behind the colonel. "One of Valenski's men got to them in time. Erased them then blew them up. Took three Drones with him," Ronon said with fierce pride and terrible anger in equal measure.

"Okay, grab the dead and let's start heading back to Atlantis." Sheppard ordered his teams.

Hamilton called in his own men, who helped carry the dead.

Sheppard was surprised to see the colonel himself picking up the body a female researcher and carry it himself. The colonel may be a complete dick, but at least he was a proper bloody soldier.

Sheppard looked around, and felt his eyes moisten. Just slightly. He was a tough soldier, and had seen a lot, but even this was almost too much.

What were they going to do?

* * *

The 401 made a swift fly-by. MacGregor tried to take in as much of the scene as possible, moving up to the cockpit now the 401 had stabilised a bit.

The buildings weren't high tech or even relatively comparable to most in modern Earth cities. These building could easily have found themselves in a Bernard Cornwall novel around the start of the industrial revolution.

And many of them lay in ruins. The fires that provided the smoke came from dozens of wooden or wood-and-stone buildings, many of them blazing away. Entire streets burned.

Corpses could be seen even from this height.

Take us down. Right there," MacGregor said from beside Jarvis.

"Aye, aye, sir."

"What did you find, Jackson?" Cam asked.

"That's what I was trying to tell you before you beamed me into this flying crate!" Jackson said in exacerbation. "There is a Nephilim on this world! A very, very bad one!"

"How bad is 'bad', Jackson? Aren't the rest pretty bad?" Cam replied.

"You remember the Prior's? Think worse," Daniel muttered.

"That doesn't sound so bad. They were squidgy once they could do that mind-power-thingie," Vala said optimistically.

"These things aren't soft and squishy even without powers!" Daniel exclaimed. "And this one is much worse. I told you all about the one called Balor, right? God of Death? Well, Nemain is possibly worse. She…it, takes a female form. Balor maybe death, but Nemain is frenzy. They all hate and destroy, but not usually each other. Nemain was a consort of one of the Pictish Gods, but she was so battle-crazy that her own kind locked her away!" Daniel said.

"Well, we'll just have to finish the job," MacGregor said, suddenly appearing next to them. "Get ready. Two minutes,"

The 401 descended through a cloud of smoke and landed lightly next to some ruins. These were ruins of a stone building, and MacGregor quickly established it as a mini CP, leaving a radio operators and the 401. With a fireteam to secure both.

The team moved out, checking the bodies. All were badly burned, but many also had crush injuries that none could explain. Many of the people were lying out in the open, well away from any possible object heavy enough to cause that sort of damage. Also, many wore the uniform of the Lucian Alliance. Bullet casings littered the ground.

"Move on," MacGregor said to his makeshift unit, moving them forward again. The smell of burnt flesh and wood mixed in their nostrils, prompting many to gag as they moved.

The teams moved along the street, when some crumbling and falling of stones alerted them. Almost as one, they swung round and took a defensive posture.

A man staggered from a building, clutching what was left of his right arm. He wore the tattered remains of an Alliance uniform.

"Help me…" he gasped, moving towards them. He tripped on a rock and pitched forward.

Teal'c grabbed him and kept him up. There was, however, no pity in the big Jaffa's eyes, and he growled menacingly at the Lucian.

"What happened here?" the Jaffa asked, already fearing the answer.

"We woke it…we woke it, to destroy the Tauri…" the man choked. Teal'c lifted him slightly. "What happened?" he said again.

The troopers looked nervously at the confrontation.

"Watch the perimeter," Cam snapped.

"We awoke…it…it was hideous. Massive. It had great, warped, black wings. It was…scared….and had many tattoos…..it killed them….then done this," the man said, tears in his eyes.

"Where?" the Jaffa asked savagely. The man gestured with his head.

Teal'c put him down, and let him stagger away.

"Are we not going to help him?" Daniel asked, shocked. Even Cam looked uneasy.

"No. He brought this on himself." MacGregor said coldly. "Let's go and see what we can find," the Admiral added, leading the way.

The force moved on for about another two clicks when they came across the now familiar Nephilim stasis pod. This one was risen out of the ground, but instead of simply awakening and leaving the pod, this Nephilim had ripped its way out of it.

"Surely one Nephilim couldn't do all this?" Cam asked in disbelief. "We've killed three of the things now, they can't be strong enough to destroy cities!"

MacGregor simply shrugged. "Something did it,"

"I told you! This Nephilim is raving mad! She will destroy whatever she can!" Daniel tried to talk sense. "We need to leave, and nuke this place from orbit."

"You are getting a little too free and ready with the nuking, recently," Cam muttered. He was right; Daniel seemed determined to wipe out any trace of the Nephilim, no matter what."

"Keep quiet and move out!"

They encounter more bodies, most of them burnt and crushed, others beaten bloody, some mutilated. It was not a pleasant way to go.

They moved out and secured the area. From what the medic's had with them could tell, this had happened almost thirty six hours ago.

So how had one Nephilim done so much damage in all the main towns?

MacGregor decided it was time to return to the Dreadnaught.

"Pick up, please, lieutenant," he radioed.

"Aye, sir," the voice crackled back.

The team came together and MacGregor pointed to a good LZ. He had the US troops take one approach and Russians another, with SG-1 covering the final angle of potential assault.

They could hear the engines of the 401 very quickly. The craft came gliding towards them, low across the buildings.

A black shadow came across the top of the 401, great black wings that darkened the full length of the 401.

"Get out of there, Jarvis! Now!" MacGregor shouted down the radio.

But it was much too late. Two fireball-like attacks whistled towards it, and despite Lieutenant Jervis' best attempts, both hit the vehicle.

They in the same way as Nephilim lightening wasn't actually lightening, these weren't just fireballs. They struck with the force of a wrecking ball, the kinetic force massive. The unnatural blue blame burned through the hull of the ship like it was made of balsa wood.

Spinning, the 401 plunged into the ruins and erupted in a cloud of flame and debris.

"Oh, shit," Cam breathed.

The Nephilim turned to face them.

Like Timrek, this was a lean, slim, well-proportioned female wearing nothing but some dirty, torn robes from the waist down. But where Timrek and Cerridwen had the semblance of perfection to hide their cruelty, on this twisted creature it was plain to see.

It was bigger than the other Nephilim, easily topping ten feet in height. Scars covered the lean body, criss-crossing madly. There were dark shapes that hurt the eyes to look at, tattooed on the things grey skin.

And the wings! This beast had four wings, two massive main wings, with two twisted, deformed ones below the main limbs. The face concealed nothing of its nature; pure hatred clouded the eyes. Blood dribbled down it's chin from where the overly long fangs dug into the lower lips.

This beasts' claws were also longer than a normal Nephilim's; it was also clear many of the scars could be self inflicted.

This being, this Daemon, let loose a cry that made even Teal'c soul grow cold. The whole group felt weakened, many falling to their knees.

"Get us out of here, now," MacGregor managed to speak into his radio.

Nemain let blue fire build around her hands and screamed as she threw the deadly projectiles at the soldiers below.

The familiar hum of beaming tech filled their ears, and the smell of ozone wafted by, and a moment before the two fireballs wrecked the area they were standing in, Ellis saved them.

* * *

"Get on to the SGC. Tell them we have trouble." MacGregor coughed, slumping to the floor.

"We are in serious trouble." Cam muttered before flopping onto his back.

Nemain looked around in a blood rage, eyes misted over red. Her black, leathery wings flapped several times. The Slaughter God looked around, sensing danger at hand, and sped from the area.

MacGregor lay on the deck next to Cam, who slowly stood. Daniel and Vala were close by, and Teal'c and the team of soldiers were spread across the room they had been beamed to.

"Daniel, can those things escape a planet without a ship?" the admiral asked.

"No, not that I know of." Daniel breathed back, his heartbeat only just beginning to steady. MacGregor nodded and pressed his mic.

"Colonel Ellis, drop a pair of nukes at the city you just beamed us from,"

"Sir?" Ellis voice replied a moment later. "There could still be survivors,"

"This is more important than the lives of a few treacherous Lucian Alliance. Drop the nukes. Now,"

"Sir."

Cam helped the general up, and the away team began to move from the room, heading towards the changing facilities and their lockers.

MacGregor tried to follow, but a sharp pain in his leg brought him to the ground. The admiral looked down.

There was a widening, wet patch around a tear in his fatigues. Gently probing with a finger, MacGregor almost blacked out as he touched a piece of shrapnel that must have hit one of the main nerve clusters.

"Damn it," he cursed.

"Medic!" Cam bellowed into his comm.

On the world below, two great explosions lit the dusk, and the shockwaves could be seen from space as they sped around the area of the explosions. Great clouds appeared, and fire consumed the blast radius.

"Damn. I really wish I didn't have to be the one always dropping nukes on things," Ellis sighed. He turned to his tactical officer. "As soon as the sensors can get a clear reading, let me know what's happening,"

"Aye, sir."

* * *

Thanks to the affects of the radiation, not one person noticed the badly damaged Lucian Ha'tak that left orbit form the doomed planet, and sped into hyperspace. Nemain wanted Balor, and nothing would get in her way. She was slaughter, chaos. The Lord of Death would not stop her!

* * *

"Here they come now, sir," the Belgian soldier at the Atlantis tactical display said politely to Woolsey.

"Thank you, sergeant,"

Woolsey went to the outer balcony to see the spectacle.

The Victory was arriving, two weeks after leaving Earth, with the Daedalus and Iwo Jima in tow.

The three ships came through the light cloud bank and circled the great city. The Victory touched down first on the third pier; her specially designed landing struts allowed her to fit on one pier with the bow and some of amidships hanging over the edge, but the battleship was perfectly balanced. It would take a hurricane to knock it from its perch.

The much smaller form of the Iwo Jima landed on pier one. She had some much needed components for the badly damaged Frasier sitting on the remaining pier.

Daedalus circled once more, before breaking orbit and heading off to relieve the Lorcan of its most recent patrol duties, the British ship already in orbit.

In the main control room, General Caldwell beamed in to meet with Ivanovov, Sashenko and Captain Stewart. Sheppard, Connolly and half a dozen other officers would be in the meetings, as would Hamilton, Dale and the senior Brits.

"Good to see you again, Colo…er, General Caldwell," Woolsey said, extending a hand. Caldwell looked at it for a moment, but decided to shake it in the end.

"Alright, everyone, shall we get started?" Caldwell gestured to the officers, who moved into the briefing room.

The arguments had been raging for the better part of two hours now. It was also very easy to spot the divisions amongst the senior command staff.

Sheppard sat with the officers of the city security, and was flanked by the imposing frame of Ronon. The highest ranking Australian, a captain, and his subordinate sat near to the city command staff, but kept a polite distance so as not to seem too 'chummy'. Warwick Spencer sat with these men, despite his secondment to British forces.

The fleet elements from the USAF and USN sat with Caldwell, their allegiances clear; United States first, Atlantis second, anyone else can go to Hell. The Marine and Army senior officers also sat here in a bold statement of support. Branches may have rivalry, but against foreign arrogance like the British were showing, they were united.

The independently assigned military officers, such as Ivanovov and Sashenko, sat separately, having no quarrel with any of the elements.

Cate and Sydney sat on their own as well, their spook status not alienating them exactly, but by nature segregating them. Over the months since arriving, the two had become firm friends.

The biggest problem was the Brits. Hamilton and Stewart, worlds apart in terms of birthplace, up-brining and social class, sat together like best friends, sharing whispered comments and agreeing with each others' points if they thought it would annoy the US staff.

Dale and the Grenadier major also sat here, and Matheson, as senior NCO, had been allowed to join them.

"Please gentlemen, see reason. As a General in the USAF, I have both the rank and experience to command here," Caldwell said, quickly getting frustrated.

They had only just managed to agree that Caldwell should have authority over all fleet assets in Pegasus, including British, even if only when there was an emergency situation. This new argument was something else entirely.

Hamilton took the chance to reply, his voice calm and even.

"General Caldwell is a greatly respected soldier, much lauded for his abilities at ship command. However, I am not convinced, nor will I ever be, that his abilities in ground combat are sufficient for him to have total authority over both the fleet and ground elements of the Atlantis expedition." Hamilton said. This was rewarded with nods from the Brits, and a few of the independent officers.

"Well, in that case colonel Sheppard could…" Woolsey began.

"Lieutenant Colonel Sheppard has led some very successful and highly organised small unit raids and missions. However, his ability to command at Company or Battalion level is also not trusted." Stewart said politely as he could, not wishing to offend Sheppard. "The man, after all, is a damned hero. That doesn't mean he can operate on a major battlefield commanding hundreds of troops. He began life as a pilot," Stewart finished off.

"And he seems to get captured a hell of a lot," Hamilton muttered.

"What? He's twice the man you'll ever be!" Ronon roared, coming to his feet. The big Satedan's patience had run out long ago, quickly followed by his temper.

"And your point?" Hamilton shrugged, further enraging Ronon.

"You and your whole planet would be dead by now, culled by the Wraith, if not for Sheppard." Ronon spat, leaning on the table and glaring at the colonel with one of his 'I'd love to rip your throat out with my teeth' kind of ways. The colonel, to his credit, didn't flinch, but just stared placidly back.

"Down, Chewie," Sheppard muttered, tugging Ronon back. The big warrior sat again, still furious.

"Believe us, colonel Sheppard's courage, ability or leadership qualities are not in question. We just believe a senior ranking infantry officer should be in command." Hamilton said.

"Like you, you mean?" Sheppard asked, eyes narrowed.

"Yes." Hamilton said honestly.

"I can see the sense in this argument," captain Sashenko said unexpectedly, gaining her some vile glances form the other US personnel. "Vhat? It makes sense. Hamilton is senior colon-el here, and commands vone of the finest infantry units in the world."

"He doesn't have as much gate experience as Colonel Sheppard," Caldwell grimaced. "And beside, he shouldn't even be here. That was part of the Gate Alliance Treaty for the UKGTF."

Hamilton let a little bit of his, normally well hidden, anger show.

"I am here because the IOA decided a senior British officer would be a good idea for the current Atlantis operations. If you have a problem with that, sir, I suggest you take it up with him," Hamilton pointed at Woolsey, who sat bolt upright and looked shocked.

"I had nothing to do with such decisions, I…"

"Calm down, Richard. We know," Sheppard said.

"I hate to admit it, but their argument makes sense," Cate said. "I mean, you wouldn't let a Royal Marine try and hunt for an ASIS agent in Hong Kong..." she trailed off meaningfully.

"Colonel Hamilton fought for seventeen years, including against the Ori, leading missions on a Company level at times. He has also led battalion and brigade sized forces in Bosnia, Kuwait and Afghanistan. He has senior infantry rank and experience, surely?" Stewart asked.

"What exactly did your lot do in Afghanistan?" the USMC Major sneered. "Sat and drank tea whilst we did all the hard work,"

"Had our convoys hit and troopers killed by American bombs," Sqd Ldr Dale said coldly, joining the argument for the first time.

The meeting exploded into argument again, when the Gate alarm went off.

"Mr. Woolsey to the control room, please, " Chuck's voice boomed over the city comms.

Woolsey sighed and looked at the enraged officers.

"I think we are all getting short on temper. I will adjourn this meeting until tomorrow. Please go about your regular business." Woolsey said, getting up. Caldwell stood, and as one all the officers stood to, until the general had moved away from the table.

The Brits broke away into a group and thundered by, straight to their portion of the city.

"What is it, Ched?" Woolsey asked as he arrived with Caldwell.

"Chuck. It's been Chuck for a while," Chuck muttered, before speaking aloud. "We have reports of Wraith movement towards a planet we have been monitoring. A large fleet, three hives and a dozen cruisers. There are also three Nephilim-Wraith cruisers there."

"Are they moving against our people?" Woolsey asked, worried.

"No sir. Captain Broddie packed up his Guardsmen and the researchers they took with them are in a Puddle jumper, cloaked, watching the scene unfold. We have them on comms,"

"Put them through,"

"They already are, sir," Chuck sighed.

"Oh. Hello Captain. What can you tell me?"

There was a brief pause, then the reply.

"_It seems that the Wraith ships are NOT with the Nephilim, sir. They have taken up a position against the Wraith hives,"_

"They're fighting?" Caldwell asked.

"_Not yet, general," _the Guardsman said, avoiding referring to Caldwell as 'sir'.

Caldwell was about to ask if they looked aggressive or not, when heard the Guardsmen gasp.

"Captain?"

"_The Wraith just opened fire on the Nephilim ships, General. The whole flotilla_." Broddie said, a little awed.

"And?"

"_There seems to be very little damage being done, sir. Just like the reports. I can see some kinetic-impact damage, even from here, but the energy seems to be…absorbed…along the hulls. The Nephilim ships are extending their 'wings' and….Jesus Christ_!"

"What is it?" Caldwell asked, startled by the curse.

"_The three Nephilim all fired at one Hive. They've sliced it into three parts in about ten seconds of continuous firing_!" Broddie said in disbelief.

"Civil war?" Sheppard asked, arriving at Caldwell's side with McKay

"Captain, head for the gate, use an intermediately and get back here," Caldwell ordered.

"_Yes, general_,"

"So, it seems not all the Wraith worship the Nephilim?" Sheppard asked.

"Maybe they got used to their independence," McKay said.

"Either way, it can't be good for us," Caldwell muttered.


	12. Chapter 12

In space, the battle was going very poorly, very quickly, for the Wraith. Their darts were wiped from existence in swathes as blue lightening swept through their squadrons.

The cruisers tried to flank whilst the Hive's engaged, but the Nephilim craft were able to fire in more than one arc, and it didn't take long for the cruisers to be crippled or destroyed.

One hive erupted from within after a Nephilim beam punched straight through to its engine core, taking dozens of Darts an a cruiser with it.

The final Hive, burning and without weapons, charged forward to ram the three ships. Two of the lithe vessels moved aside, but one was struck a glancing blow.

The formally organic hull, now seemingly made of pure obsidian, cracked and splintered all down its length. Chunks of glass-like debris floated away, and the ship seemed to crumple in on itself, like a jar taken too deep under water, before exploding outward.

The Hive didn't fare well from the ramming, either. The great 'wing' protrusions of the cruiser gouged a kilometre long, forty metres deep scar in the Hive's flank, causing more atmosphere and bodies to drift off into the void.

The Hive trundled onward, slowly coming about; it was far too late. The other two cruisers opened fire and obliterated it.

The battle-site was a mess of debris and frozen corpses that slowly began to drift into orbit of the planet below. Their victory won, the Nephilim ships turned about and disappeared into hyperspace.

* * *

"Damn it general, I cannot put up with you eternal arrogance or willingness to subvert our command!" Landry bellowed at Melchett.

The officers were having a major slagging match, started over reports from Atlantis.

Jack was also present, flown in from the Pentagon, and was leaning on the briefing room window, looking at the 'old orifice'.

The only one sitting was MacGregor. The admiral was still on crutches for his leg; they had had to remove some of his ganglions and totally remove some of the nerves that had been damaged. He had also taken some major muscular damage which needed to heal.

Not that Mac would listen to the medical staff. He was just glad Anne was in Pegasus with Cate. As Admiral, he had been able to make sure his wife and daughter didn't find out.

"Well, General, we are a little sick of being treated as second class participants in the SG programme." Melchett argued.

"You are," Jack said, not even looking round. "Six years without your knowledge, eight without your direct input or assistance. Seems like we had to do all that hard work alone," Jack replied. He was used to dealing with idiots like Melchett, and being on the right side. For once, MacGregor thought, he might not be.

"Maybe it was because you never told them, Jack," MacGregor said quietly.

"And have them demand for military grade technology? They may be our allies, but we only trust them so far," Landry said.

"We are supposed to be your biggest allies, yet you keep us in the dark, insult our military, misuse our financial support and question our loyalty? I thought we we're meant to be on your side?" Melchett replied coolly.

"Well, what you're meant to be and what you are may be two entirely different things," Jack said, turning round. He had his jacket unbuttoned, a hand on his hip, the other making those gestures he always loved. "Maybe you should earn your place before you make demands,"

Anyone in the room, or in the UKGTF, would have called Melchett and overbearing, Upper-class twat in a heartbeat. But for once, the hard-nosed bastard was in the right. And MacGregor felt a sting in Jack words, even if they weren't meant for him.

"What about us, Jack? Are we just another useful supply of men and money?" he asked his old friend, actually a little bit hurt, deep down.

"Of course not, Will. I know the contribution's made. But for him," Jack pointed at the British Brigadier. "To make demands on us is ridiculous.

"Ridiculous? Earn our place? To date, Generals, fighting the Ori and the Wraith, the UK has lost 167 soldiers, 49 marines and 36 sailors. And we have spent £37 billion pounds on this project, too. A little disproportionate for our four years of service, don't you think?" Melchett said.

Landry nodded slowly. "Yes, General, we know you have given a lot in defence of Earth. But see it from our point of view; we handled it alone for so long, and now the relative new comers have turned up and are demanding access the likes of which even the Russians don't receive,"

"You know how many times SG-1 saved the world? Without any Brits?" Jack asked. "Just be grateful you're involved at all."

"I've had enough. I'm returning to my barrack level. I will not speak to men who claim to be officers and gentlemen but then act like this," the brigadier growled before turning on his heel.

"Well, that could have been handled better," MacGregor sighed, rising slowly from the chair after Melchett has left.

"He needed putting in his place," O'neill replied.

"Yes, he did Jack. But much of what he said rings true," Mac replied.

"I wish McAllister was back here. You could at least talk to him civilly,"

MacGregor sighed with a hint of anger.

"You think he would have had anything different to say? He resigned because he was sick of the political situation too," Will snapped, starling Jack. O'Neill was not used to his old colleague snapping at him like that. Or anyone, for that matter. "It's true. I hate to admit it, because Oz has come away from US favouritism pretty damned well over the last two years we've been majorly involved, but the Brits deserve better."

Landry sighed. "I don't know what's going wrong, but it seems the Gate Alliance just isn't working. Couple that with the reports that the Nephilim have gone quiet, something is going to blow up in our damned faces."

The three men looked over at the gate, a universal shiver going down their spines.


End file.
